Asperoteuthis lui
Richard E. Young and Michael VecchioneIntroduction
This species is known from a single damaged specimen that was taken from the stomach of a fish (a ling). The specimen was without a funnel or mantle, but had arms, one tentacle and eyes. Apparently the sucker rings from the arm and tentace suckers were missing.
Brief diagnosis:
An Asperoteuthis ...
- without a terminal club photophore.
- with 180 suckers on distal portion of tentacular club.
Characteristics
- Arms
- Enlarged arm suckers in middle and distal regions of arms II and III; arm IV suckers smaller, none enlarged.
- Tentacle
- Tentacle divided into two portions: proximal portion much shorter than distal portion; proximal portion without suckers and with mostly fused trabeculae.
- Tentacle shape lanceolate.
- Distal portion of club with 50 trabeculae on either margin and 180 suckers in four series (45 transverse rows of suckers).
- Marginal suckers larger than medial suckers.
- Club tip sharp, without terminal photophore.
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Figure. Oral view of the tentacular club of A. lui. Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).
- Photophores
- Tentacular stalk with 120 knob-like photophores that alternate in size.
- Aboral surface of tentacle with median series of seven photophores with aboral pores; photophores and pores increase in size distally. Distal photophore about 4 mm in length.
- "Patch of iridescent tissue on ventral side of eyeball."
photo
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Figure. Ventrolateral view of the eyeball of A. lui, showing "iridescent tissue" (shaded area). Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).
- Tentacular stalk with 120 knob-like photophores that alternate in size.
- Measurements
- Arm I length - 260 mm; arm II length - 300 mm; arm III length - 320 mm; arm IV length - 380 mm.
- Tentacle length - 2.15 m; club length - 130 mm.
- Eye diameter - 30 mm; lens diameter - 10 mm.
Comments
This description is taken from Salcedo-Vargas, 1999.
References
Salcedo-Vargas, M.A. 1999. An asperoteuthid squid (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Chiroteuthidae) from New Zealand misidentified as Architeuthis. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 75:47-49.
About This Page
Richard E. Young
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA
Page copyright © 2007 Richard E. Young and
All Rights Reserved.
- First online 15 November 2007
- Content changed 15 November 2007
Citing this page:
Young, Richard E. and Vecchione, Michael. 2007. Asperoteuthis lui http://tolweb.org/Asperoteuthis_lui/112030/2007.11.15 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
. Version 15 November 2007.