Cranchiinae
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close boxIntroduction
This is a much less diverse subfamily than the Taoniinae.
Diagnosis
A cranchiid ...
- with many small, round photophores on eyeball.
- with cartilagenous tubercules dispersed and/or in strips on mantle.
Characteristics
- Arms
- Hectocotylus left or right arm IV.
- Arms III longest.
- Head
- Eyes stalked only in young Leachia, otherwise eyes sessile.
- Funnel
- Funnel fused to head laterally.
- Mantle
- One or two cartilagenous strips, usually with tubercles, extend posteriorly from each point of funnel-mantle fusion.
- Photophores
- Eyes with four or more small round photophores.
- Viscera
- Caecum larger than stomach.
Cartilagenous tubercules | Stalked eyes in paralarvae | Funnel valve | Suckers in medial two series on club manus | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cranchia | cover mantle | No | Yes | Not enlarged |
Leachia | on single cartilagenous strips | Yes | Yes | Enlarged |
Liocranchia | on double, diverging cartilagenous strips | No | No | Not enlarged |
References
Voss, N. A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bull. Mar. Sci. 30: 365-412.