Planctoteuthis danae
Richard E. Young and Clyde F. E. RoperIntroduction
Planctoteuthis danae is one of the more sturdy members of the genus, and it is most easily recognized by its relatively large, muscular fins.
Diagnosis
A Planctoteuthis with- Fin length more than 50% of mantle length.
Characteristics
- Arms
- Arms IV with 12-13 suckers each.
- Arm lengths: arms I: 38-44% of ML (subadults); arms III: 50-55% of ML (subadults); arms IV: 74-91% of ML (subadults).
- Largest arm suckers with 7-9 small, blunt teeth on distal margin of ring; proximally teeth fuse into a virtually smooth ring.
- Tentacular clubs
- Clubs bilaterally symmetrical and lack keels.
- Club length 12-18% of ML.
- "Carpal" suckers on club with broader appertures than regular club suckers.
- Sucker rings, from mid-club suckers, smooth.
- Funnel
- Antitragus of funnel locking-apparatus with two distinct lobes.
- Fins
- Fin length 52% of ML.
Nomenclature
This species was originally placed in the genus Valbyteuthis Joubin, 1931, which was subsequently synonomized with Planctoteuthis (Young, 1991).
Distribution
Vertical
In the eastern North Atlantic paralarvae are found mostly between 200 and 300 m (Clarke and Lu, 1974). Between about 10 and 15 mm ML they are found between 200 and 800 m and at larger sizes they are found at depths greater than 700 m during the day with some captures at depths of over 1000 m. In 1974 P. danae was in the genus Valbyteuthis which contained only two species, P. danae and P. oligobessa Young, 1972, both from the Pacific Ocean. The identification of the species upon which this vertical distribution is based needs confirmation. We know of no other records of P. danae in the Atlantic Ocean. The data could refer to P. lippula.
Geographical
The type locality is the Gulf of Panama, tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. It has also been reported from off California and Hawaii (Young, 1972; 1978), off central Chile and the eastern Polynesian Islands (Nesis, 1982), and the eastern North Atlantic -see comments above- (Clarke and Lu, 1975 and Lu and Clarke, 1975).
References
Clarke, M. R. and C. C. Lu. 1975. Verical distribution of cephalopods at 18 N 25 W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55 (1): 165-182.
Joubin, L. 1931. Notes preliminaires sur les cephalopodes des croiseires du “Dana” (1921-1922). Annales de l’Institut Oceanographique, 10: 169-211.
Lu, C. C. and M. R. Clarke, 1975. Vertical distribution of cephalopods at 11 N 20 W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55 (2): 369-389.
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.
Roper, C. F. E. and R. E. Young (1967). A review of the Valbyteuthidae and an evaluation of its relationship with the Chiroteuthidae. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 123: 1-9.
Young, R. E. (1991). Chiroteuthid and related paralarvae from Hawaiian waters. Bull. Mar. Sci., 49: 162-185.
About This Page
Richard E. Young
Dept of Oceanography
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
USA
Page copyright © 1999 Richard E. Young and
Citing this page:
Young, Richard E. and Roper, Clyde F. E. 1999. Planctoteuthis danae http://tolweb.org/Planctoteuthis_danae/19492/1999.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
. Version 01 January 1999 (under construction).