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Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis (Chun 1910)

Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione
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Holotype not extant.
Containing group: Histioteuthidae

Introduction

Material of Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis examined by Voss et al. (1998) and earlier workers cited therein found no indication of population differentiation over the broad geographical, but interrupted, range of this species. However some variation in the sucker enlargement pattern of the club is a possible exception. Additional squid are needed to evaluate the latter. Also, descriptions of spermatophores from different geographical regions are needed.

Brief diagnosis:

A Histioteuthis ...

Characteristics

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

  2. Arms
    1. Tubercules form serrate ridge along aboral midline proximally on arms I-III. on middorsal line on anterior 1/2-2/3 of mantle beneath epithelium and on proximal half of arms I-III.
  3. Mantle
    1. Tubercules form serrate ridge along middorsal line on anterior 1/2-2/3 of mantle beneath epithelium and on proximal half of arms I-III.
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      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Dorsolateral view of the mantle tubercules of H. meleagroteuthis, showing undamaged region covered by skin adjacent to a damaged area (center left) with skin lost. Photograph by M. Vecchione.

Comments

More details of the description can be found here.

Species of the meleagroteuthis-group are distinguished by the following characteristics:

  1. Photophores
    1. In 8-10 series on arm IV base.
    2. Usually 19-22 photophores on right eyelid.
    3. Compound photophores of uniform size, small and densely packed on anterior 3/4 of ventral mantle.

H. meleagroteuthis is easily separated from the other member of the meleagroteuthis-group, H. heteropsis, by the presence of tubercles.

The above information is taken from Voss (1969) and Voss, et al. (1998).

Life History

Females mature at 114 mm ML (spent female, 27°S, 37°W); males at 65-102 mm ML (Voss, et al., 1998).

Distribution

Geographical distribution

Type locality: South Pacific, north of New Zealand at 35°45'S, 176°20'E, 549-686 m depth.

H. meleagroteuthis has been taken throughout much of the world's tropical and subtropical waters. However, it appears to be absent from the oligotrophic subtropical waters south of Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic and transitional waters of the California and Peru-Chile currents (habitat occupied by its close relative H. heteropsis) and the northern tropical central waters around Hawaii in the Pacific (Voss, et al., 1998).

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

Figure. Distribution chart of H. meleagroteuthis, modified from Voss et al., 1998.

References

Voss, N. A. 1969. A monograph of the Cephalopoda of the North Atlantic: The family Histioteuthidae. Bull. Mar. Sci., 19: 713-867.

Voss, N.A., K. N. Nesis, P. G. Rodhouse. 1998. The cephalopod family Histioteuthidae (Oegopsida): Systematics, biology, and biogeography. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 586(2): 293-372.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis
Reference Voss, N. A. 1969. A monograph of the Cephalopoda of the North Atlantic: The family Histioteuthidae. Bull. Mar. Sci., 19: 713-867.
Acknowledgements Printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science
Sex Male
View Ventral and dorsal
Copyright © 2004 Bulletin of Marine Science
Scientific Name Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis
Comments Photographed aboard the R/V G. O. SARS, Mar-Eco cruise, central North Atlantic.
View Lateral
Size 26 mm ML
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2004
About This Page
Drawings from Voss (1969) printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science.


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA


National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA

Page: Tree of Life Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis (Chun 1910). Authored by Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione. 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 Michael Vecchione. 2006. Histioteuthis meleagroteuthis (Chun 1910). Version 16 July 2006 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Histioteuthis_meleagroteuthis/19810/2006.07.16 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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