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Galiteuthis glacialis (Chun, 1906)

Richard E. Young and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003)
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Containing group: Galiteuthis

Introduction

Galiteuthis glacialis is a moderately large cranchiid squid, from Antarctic waters, reaching about 0.5 m ML.

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Figure. Dorssal view of G. glacialis. Photograph by M. Vecchione.

Diagnosis

Characteristics

  1. Mantle tubercules
    1. Mantle-funnel fusion: Two elongate tubercules on each side of fusion with 2 or 3 cusps each (upper drawing).
    2. Mantle-nuchal fusion: Two small tubercules with 2-3 cusps on each side (lower drawing).
    3. Mantle surface: Rough with many rounded, cartilagenous tubercules in subadults (both drawings).
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      Figure. Anterior mantle and head of G. glacialis, 333 mm ML, female. Left - Ventral view  showing tubercules at funnel fusion. Right - Dorsal view showing tubercules at nuchal fusion, same specimen. Drawings from Sweeny (1978).

  2. Tentacles
    1. Club with 10-12 hooks in subadults.
    2. Club manus with small lateral suckers.
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      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Oral view of tentacular club of G. glacialis, 297 mm ML, male. Drawing from Sweeny (1978).

Comments

The easiest means of identification is by the unusual arrangement of tubercules at the funnel and nuchal fusions, and the Antarctic habitat.

More details of the description can be found here.

Nomenclature

Galiteuthis aspera Filippova, 1972 from the Scotia Sea, Antarctic waters, is a junior synonym of this species (McSweeny, 1980).

Life History

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Figure. Ventral views of G. glacialis. Top - 11 mm ML paralarva. Bottom - 54 mm ML juvenile. From Voss, 1980, printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science.

The 11 mm paralarva (drawing on right) shows eyes on short stalks and extremely small, widely separated fins. At about 5-6 mm ML tubercules at the nuchal fusion can be detected. At 7 mm ML the tubercules at the funnel fusion can be detected. At 30 mm ML a well delineated club is present that bears four series of suckers.

At 54 mm ML the young G. glacialis (drawing on right) has eyes that have just become sessile and fins that approach that of the adult in shape (i.e. longer than wide). At 55-65 mm ML the hooks begin to develop on the tentacular clubs and well-formed hooks are present by just over 100 mm ML. At just over 100 mm ML tubercules can be detected on the mantle. At about 125 mm ML the ocular photophores are fully developed.

Distribution


The type locality is listed by Chun (1906) as "Antarctic." The distribution of this species is found throughout the circum-polar Antarctic waters where it is one of the most abundant squids (Nesis, 1982). A map from the British Antarctic Survey showing the distribution can be seen here.

References

Chun, C. 1906. System der Cranchien. Zool. Anz., 31: 82-86.

McSweeny, E. S. 1978. Systematics and morphology of the Antarctic cranchiid squid Galiteuthis glacialis (Chun). Antarctic Res. Ser., 27:1-39.

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.

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

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Galiteuthis glacialis
Reference from McSweeny, E. S. 1978. Systematics and morphology of the Antarctic cranchiid squid Galiteuthis glacialis (Chun). Antarctic Res. Ser., 27:1-39.
View Ventral
Size 297 mm ML
Copyright © 1978 E.S. McSweeny
Scientific Name Galiteuthis glacialis
Location Ross Sea, Antarctica at 71°59'S, 173°24'E
Creator Darren Stevens
Acknowledgements New Zealand part of the International Polar Year and the Census of Antarctic Marine Life
Identified By Darren Stevens
View Ventral
Size 321 mm ML
Collection NIWA
Collector LINZ
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © D.Stevens NZ IPY-CAML
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

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

Page: Tree of Life Galiteuthis glacialis (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. Galiteuthis glacialis (Chun, 1906). Version 26 March 2019 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Galiteuthis_glacialis/19572/2019.03.26 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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