Batoteuthidae
Batoteuthis skolops
The Bush-club Squid
Richard E. Young and Clyde F. E. RoperIntroduction
Batoteuthis skolops is found only in Antarctic waters and little is known of its biology. It has a small head, a long tail and a very peculiar tentacle with six series of suckers on the club. It reaches a size of at least 35 cm ML.
Diagnosis
A member of the chiroteuthid families ...
- with each tentacular club bearing suckers in six regular series.
Characteristics
- Arms
- Suckers in two series.
- Suckers in two series.
- Tentacular club
- Suckers in six series. image info
Figure. Oral view of tentacular club, B. skolops, holotype, 51 mm ML. Drawing from Young and Roper (1968).
- Funnel
- Funnel locking-apparatus is distinctly curved.
image infoFigure. Frontal view of the funnel/mantle locking-aparatus of B. skolops, holotype. Left - Ventral view of funnel component. Right - Dorsal view of mantle component. Drawings from Young and Roper (1968).
- Funnel locking-apparatus is distinctly curved.
- Fins
- Short (about 20% of ML).
- Short (about 20% of ML).
- Gladius and Tail
- Long secondary conus of gladius forms core of long, slender tail; length greatest in paralarvae. image info
Figure. Batoteuthis skolops, 95 mm ML, female. Top - Ventral view of the gladius with cross-sections. Bottom - Ventral view of the funnel, mantle, fins and tail (head lost in capture). Drawing from Young and Roper (1968).
- Long secondary conus of gladius forms core of long, slender tail; length greatest in paralarvae.
- Photophores
- Large, subadult males with large aboral photophores occupying the tips of arms IV (see title illustration).
- Large, subadult females with small aboral photophores occupying the tips of arms IV.
Comments
More details of the description can be found here. The visceral nucleus is located far anteriorly within the mantle cavity.
Nomenclature
The generic name means "thorn-bush" and refers to the bushy tentacular club. The trivial name refers to anything pointed, a reference to the pointed tail.
A list of all nominal genera and species in the Batoteuthidae can be found here. The list includes the current status and type species of all genera, and the current status, type repository and type locality of all species and all pertinent references.
Life History
The smallest known individual is 30 mm ML and the largest, 350 mm ML. Unfortunately, the largest specimen described with intact tentacles is the holotype. A few growth stages have been described. Paralarval and mature individuals are unknown.
Distribution
Type locality: South Pacific Ocean about 1000 km southeast of Wellington, New Zealand in the region of the Antarctic Convergence (49° 57'S; 169° 01'W). This species is found in Antarctic and adjacent waters.
References
Nesis, K. N. 1982. Abridged key to the cephalopod mollusks of the world's ocean. 385+ii pp. Light and Food Industry Publishing House, Moscow. (In Russian.). Translated into English by B. S. Levitov, ed. by L. A. Burgess (1987), Cephalopods of the world. T. F. H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 351pp.
Young, R. E. and C. F. E. Roper. 1968. The Batoteuthidae, a new family of squid (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida) from Antarctic waters. Antarctic Res. Ser. 2: 185-202.
About This Page
Richard E. Young
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
Clyde F. E. Roper
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Richard E. Young at
Page copyright © 1996 Richard E. Young and
- Content changed 05 June 2006
Citing this page:
Young, Richard E. and Roper, Clyde F. E. 2006. Batoteuthidae http://tolweb.org/Batoteuthis_skolops/19452/2006.06.05 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org
. Batoteuthis skolops . The Bush-club Squid. Version 05 June 2006 (under construction).