Lycoteuthis lorigera (Steenstrup 1875)

Introduction

Characteristics

1. Males lack elongate tail.
2. Posterior abdominal photophores fused into single, broad organ in males.

image info

Figure. Ventral view mantle of the mantel of L. lorigera showing arrangement of visceral photophores, male, holotype, 180 mm ML. Drawing from Voss (1962, p. 289).

Comments

Tentacular clubs and club and arm suckers have no known species-specific features.

Note the bright blue, mid-ventral ocular photophore on each eye in one of the title photographs. This blue photophore seems to be typical of members of the Lycoteuthinae. Also red integumental pigment covers (or partly covers due to damage) the other ocular photophores. This pigment would appear to be a color filter that would transmit blue light. Why two different means of producing blue light are needed is unknown

Distribution

The type locality is the "South Sea" in the Pacific Ocean. It has also been reported from off the east coast of South Island, New Zealand at 44° 42'S, 172° 42'E.

A trawl that captured a single male off New Zealand also captured 104 females. The trawl was positioned 20-80 m off the bottom in 500 m of water (Försch and Uozumi, 1990).

References

Förch, E. C. and Y. Uozumi. 1990. Discovery of a specimen fo Lycoteuthis lorigera (Steenstrup, 1875) (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea) from New Zealand and additional notes on its morphology. New Zealand Jour. Mar. Freshw. Res., 24: 251-258.

Toll, R. B. 1983. The lycoteuthid genus Oregoniateuthis Voss, 1956, a synonym of Lycoteuthis Pfeffer, 1900 (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea). Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 96: 365-369.

Voss, G. L. 1962. A monograph of the Cephalopoda of the North Atlantic. I. The Family Lycoteuthidae. Bull. Mar. Sci. Gulf Carib. 12: 264-305.