Nematolampas venezuelensis Arocha, 2003

Introduction

Nematolampas venezuelensis is known from only four immature male squid ranging in size from 58-88 mm ML and captured in tropical waters off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, Western North Atlantic.

Diagnosis

A Nematolampas ...

• with elongate arms II (only in males?).
• with arms II having suckerless, filamentous tips and bearing numerous photophores proximally (only in males?).

Characteristics

1. Arms
1. Arms II and III greatly elongate (100 and 175% of ML respectively) and with filamentous, suckerless tips.
2. Arms III longer and more robust than arms II.


2. Photophores
1. Nine equally-spaced photophores on each arm II; photophores located in proximal third of each arm.
2. Nineteen equally-spaced photophores on each arm III; photophores located in proximal two thirds of each arm.
3. Single, elongate photophore embedded in musculature dorsally in midline near base of tail followed by 5 small, spherical photophores embedded in dorsal midline of tail; fifth in series tear-drop shaped and located at distal extremity of tail.
image infoimage info

Figure. Photophores (blue) of N. venezuelensis, holotype, immature male, 87.5 mm ML. Left - Dorsal view of head and arms showing photophores of arms II and III, tentacles and head. Right - Dorsal view of fins and tail showing posterior midline series. Drawings modified from Arocha (2003).

Comments

The above description is from Arocha (2003). More details of the description can be found here.

Distribution

Type locality - Northeast of Golfo Triste, Venezuela, 10°55'N, 67°57'W. All four squid were captured between 10°-12°N and 64°-68°W off Venezuela and were taken in bottom trawls fishing from 298-385 m at night.

References

Arocha, F. 2003. A new species of Nematolampas (cephalopoda: Oegopsida) from the Western Central Atlantic with an overview of the family Lycoteuthidae. Bull Mar. Sci., 72: 941-9