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Bathothauma Chun, 1906

Bathothauma lyromma Chun, 1906

Richard E. Young and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003)
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Bathothauma contains one recognized species. Voss, et al. (1992), however, suggest that four species may exist.

Containing group: Taoniinae

Introduction

Bathothauma lyromma is one of the more highly modified cranchiids. The paralarval stage reaches a very large size (ca. 10 cm ML) and possesses very long eye stalks and has a very long brachial pillar. Both are resorbed in the subadult. The adult reaches 20 cm ML (Nesis, 1982). This species is circumglobal in distribution from tropical to high latitudes (Voss, 1980).

Brief diagnosis:

A taoniin ...

Characteristics

  1. Tentacles
    1. Tentacular club with suckers only.
    2. Tentacular stalk with two series of suckers and pads proximally, four series near club forming elongate carpal group.

  2. Head
    1. Beaks: Descriptions can be found here: Lower beak; upper beak.

  3. Funnel
    1. Funnel valve absent.
    2. Funnel organ with inverted V-shaped dorsal pad

  4. Mantle
    1. Tubercles absent (or virtually absent) from funnel-mantle fusion.

  5. Fins
    1. Fins paddle-shaped, subterminal.
    2. Fins widely separated (insert on lateral, expanded ends of transverse extensions of posterior end of gladius).*

  6. Photophores
    1. One on each eye.**
    2. Arm-tip organs of adult females unknown.

*Within Cranchiidae, unique to this genus.
**Unusual feature within Cranchiidae; shared only with Helicocranchia.

Comments

Characteristics above are from Voss (1980).

Life History

The paralarva is very distinctive with extremely long eye-stalks, a long brachial pillar, widely separated fins and an unusual chromatophore pattern.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Figure. Left - Dorsal view of a large paralarva (ca. 50 mm ML) B. lyromma, Hawaiian waters. Photograph by R. Young. Right - Ventral and dorsal views of a small paralarva (ca. 5 mm ML) of B. lyromma, Hawaiian waters. The drawings emphasize the eye-rostrum by showing the eyes in different orientations: The left eye is seen in a side view and the right eye in either a ventral view (left drawing) or a dorsal view (right drawing). Drawings by R. Young. The scale bar is 1 mm.

Distribution

Vertical distribution

The vertical distribution of B. lyromma off Hawaii exhibits a clear ontogenetic descent. No adults were taken in this study but they probably occur at depths greater than 1000 m.

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Figure. Vertical distribution chart of B. lyromma, Hawaiian waters. Captures were made with both open and opening/closing trawls. Bars- fishing depth-range of opening/closing trawl. Circle- Modal fishing depth for either trawl. Blue-filled circles- Night captures. Yellow-filled circles- Day capture. Chart modified from Young (1978).

Geographical distribution

The genus is found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical waters except for an apparent absence from subtropical waters of the South Atlantic. It also extends into temperate waters in the northeastern Atlantic and South Pacific (Voss, 1992).

Other Names for Bathothauma lyromma Chun, 1906

References

Chun, C. 1910. Die Cephalopoden. Oegopsida. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition, "Valdivia" 1898-1899, 18: 1-522 + Atlas.

Voss, N. A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bull. Mar. Sci., 30: 365-412.

Voss N. A., S. J. Stephen and Zh. Dong 1992. Family Cranchiidae Prosch, 1849. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 513: 187-210.

Young, R. E. (1978). Vertical distribution and photosensitive vesicles of pelagic cephalopods from Hawaiian waters. Fish. Bull., 76: 583-615.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Bathothauma lyromma
Location off Hawaii
Life Cycle Stage subadult
View lateral
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1996
Scientific Name Bathothauma lyromma
Reference from Chun, C. 1910. Die Cephalopoden. Oegopsida. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition, "Valdivia" 1898-1899, 18: 1-522 + Atlas.
Life Cycle Stage paralarva
Size ca. 65 mm ML
Type holotype
Scientific Name Bathothauma lyromma
Reference from Voss, N. A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bull. Mar. Sci., 30: 365-412, printed with permission
Life Cycle Stage Subadult
Size 165 mm ML
Copyright © 1980 Bulletin of Marine Science
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003)
Laboratoire Arago, Banyuls-Sur-Mer, France

Page: Tree of Life Bathothauma Chun, 1906. Bathothauma lyromma Chun, 1906. Authored by Richard E. Young and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003). The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Young, Richard E. and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003). 2019. Bathothauma Chun, 1906. Bathothauma lyromma Chun, 1906. Version 26 March 2019 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Bathothauma_lyromma/19549/2019.03.26 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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