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Liocranchia reinhardti (Steenstrup 1856)

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

Introduction

In Hawaiian waters, this species appears to be a strong vertical migrator and may be a member of the mesopelagic boundary fauna as it seems to be more common off Hawaii over bottom depths of less than 700m than in more offshore waters (Young, 1995). In the tropical eastern North Atlantic, however, this species has a distribution more similar to its congener (see Distribution.)

Characteristics

  1. Mantle
    1. Tubercles present along middorsal line (i.e., over gladius).
  2. Photophores
    1. 14 oval photophores on eyeball: 7 in medial series, 6 in lateral series near lens and 1 in between (see photograph).
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      Figure. Ventral view of an eye of L. reinhardti showing ocular photophores, Hawiian waters. Photograph by R. E. Young.

    2. Large photophores on the tips of arms III in mature females.

Comments

More details of the description of L. reinhardti can be found here.

Life History

L. reinhardti paralarvae in Hawaiian waters can easily be separated from paralarvae of L. valdiviae, prior to development of the dorsal tubercles, by their chromatophore pattern. Young stages can be recognized by the single large chromatophore on the ventral tip of the mantle. Larger paralarvae develop, in addition, a row of large chromatophores near the anterior end of the ventral mantle.

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Figure. L. reinhardti paralarvae from Hawaiian waters. Thumbnail - Ventral views showing relative sizes of the three paralarvae.   of: Left - Ventral and dorsal views, 2.9 mm ML. Middle - Ventral and dorsal views, 4.5 mm ML.  Right - Ventral and dorsal views, 7.7 mm ML. Dashed lines indicate hidden chromatophores. Scale bars are 1 mm. Drawings by R. E. Young.

Distribution

L. reinhardti has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and subtropical waters (Nesis, 1982). Off Hawaii, Reid, et al. (1991) and Young (1995) considered this squid to be a member of the mesopelagic boundary community (ie, occurring primarily over bottom depths of less than 700m) in Hawaiian waters. Bower, et at. (1999) examined the distribution of cephalopod paralarvae near Hawaii and found that L. reinhardti paralarvae  to be in a group of "island associated" paralarvae belonging to species that presumably spawn nearshore. The Hawaiian data suggest that in other geographical regions, L. reinhardti may also be land-related in distribution.

References

Nesis, K. N. 1982/87. 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.

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

Young, R. E. 1995. Aspects of the natural history of pelagic cephalopods of the Hawaiian mesopelagic-boundary region. Pacific Science 49: 143-155.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Liocranchia reinhardti
Reference from Voss, N. A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bull. Mar. Sci. 30: 365-412. p. 379, printed with the permission
Copyright © 1980 Bulletin of Marine Science
About This Page

Richard E. Young
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

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

Page: Tree of Life Liocranchia reinhardti (Steenstrup 1856). 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 Mangold (1922-2003), Katharina M. 2008. Liocranchia reinhardti (Steenstrup 1856). Version 08 September 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Liocranchia_reinhardti/19596/2008.09.08 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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