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Selenoteuthis Voss, 1958

Selenoteuthis scintillans Voss, 1958

Moon Squid

Michael Vecchione

This genus contains a single species

Containing group: Lycoteuthidae

Introduction

These are small squid reaching about 35 mm ML and known only from the tropical to subtropical North Atlantic.

Diagnosis

A lycoteuthin ...

with enlarged photophore at tip of tail.
with three tentacle photophores.

Characteristics

Photophores.
1. Five ventral ocular photophores in a straight line.
  image info
  
  Figure. Ventral views of the eyeball of S. scintillans showing ocular photophores. Left - female. Right - Male. Drawings modified from Voss, (1962, p. 295-296).
2. Apparently three adjacent postero-abdominal photophores.
3. Spherical organ on tip of each arms II and III in males.
  image info
  
  Figure. Side view of an arm-tip photophore of S. scintillans on arm II. Drawing from Voss (1962, p. 296).
4. Spherical tail organ, larger in males (see title drawings).
5. Tentacles with three photophores: base of tentacle, mid-tentacle, base of carpus (Arocha, 2003)
Viscera

Genitalia in males paired.

Comments

More details of the description can be found here.

References

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.

Title Illustrations

Scientific Name	Selenoteuthis scintillans
Location	Bahamas
Comments	collected by submersible
Sex	m
Copyright	© 1996 M. Vecchione

Scientific Name	Selenoteuthis scintillans, Selenoteuthis scintillans (2)
Reference	from 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. p. 295, 296, with permission
Sex	f, m (2)
View	ventral, dorsal (2)
Copyright	© 1962 Bulletin of Marine Science

About This Page

Drawings by Voss (1962) printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science.

National Marine Fisheries Service
Systematics Laboratory
National Museum of Natural History
Washington, D. C. 20560
USA

Citing this page:

Vecchione, Michael. 1999. Selenoteuthis Voss, 1958. Selenoteuthis scintillans Voss, 1958. Moon Squid. Version 01 January 1999 (complete). http://tolweb.org/Selenoteuthis_scintillans/19734/1999.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/