Under Construction

This is an archived version of a Tree of Life page. For up-to-date information, please refer to the current version of this page.

The holotype is deposited in the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Containing group: Planctoteuthis

Introduction

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

1. Arms
   1. Arms IV with 12-13 suckers each.
      
      image info
      

      Figure. Oral view of P. danae, holotype, showing arm IV suckers. Note the two enlarged suckers on arm II (upper right in photograph). Photograph by R. Young.

2. Tentacular clubs
   1. Clubs bilaterally symmetrical and lack keels.
   2. Club length 12-18% of ML.
      
      image info
      

      Figure. Several views of a tentacular club of P. danae, holotype. Photographs by R. Young.

3. Funnel
   1. Antitragus of funnel locking-apparatus with two distinct lobes.
      image info

      Figure. Frontal view of the funnel locking-apparatus, P. danae, subadult, eastern Pacific. Photograph by R. Young.

4. Fins
   1. Fin length 52% of ML.

Comments

More details of the description of P. danae can be found here. 

Nomenclature

This species was originally placed in the genus Valbyteuthis Joubin, 1931, which was subsequently synonomized with Planctoteuthis (Young, 1991).

Life history

Paralarval stages from Hawaiian waters are described here.

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.

Figure. Vertical distribution graph based on opening/closing nets with tows at two localities, one at 11°N Lat. and the other at 18°N Lat., North Atlantic. Yellow - Day capture. Blue - Night capture. Bar length - fishing depth of net. Chart modified from Clarke and Lu, 1975 and Lu and Clarke, 1975.

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.