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Galiteuthis phyllura Berry 1911

Richard E. Young and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003)
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Containing group: Galiteuthis

Introduction

This may be the largest species of Galiteuthis if it reaches a length of 2.7 m ML as Nesis (1982) thinks. G. phyllura has been observed repeatedly by underwater vehicles. Hunt (1996) describes a behavior observed by an ROV that may be typical of many cranchiids. When disturbed, this squid hyperinflates the mantle with water and releases ink inside the mantle cavity. It thereby transforms itself from a nearly transparent squid into a very dark one.

Characteristics

  1. Head
    1. Beaks: Descriptions can be found here: Lower beak; upper beak.

  2. Photophores
    1. Lateral (near lens) ocular photophore bar-shaped.
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      Figure. Ventral view of the head of G. phyllura showing ocular photophores. Photograph by Henk-Jan Hoving.

  3. Tubercules at fused locking apparatuses
    1. At mantle-funnel fusion: 2-4 small, conical tubercules.
    2. At mantle-nuchal fusion: none.
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      Figure. Cartilaginous tubercules at funnel-mantle fusion of G. phyllura. Left - Ventral view, 173 mm GL. Drawing from Young (1972). Right - Ventrolateral view on a fresh squid. Photograph by Henk-Jan Hoving.

Comments

Additional details of the description of G. phyllura can be found here.

Nomenclature

Galiteuthis beringiana (Sasaki, 1920) is a junior synonym of this species (Nesis, 1982).

Behavior

 
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Figure. Side views of G. phyllura, insitu, showing the near vertical position of the eyes, digestive gland and arm crown as the body rotates about 90° presumably to reduce the shadow produced by these structrures. Photographs © 2011 MBARI.

Life History

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Figure. Left - Growth stages of G. phyllura, ventral views. A - 170 mm GL. B - 79 mm GL. C - 33 mm GL. D - 13 mm GL. Drawings from Young, 1972. Right - In situ photographs of G. Phyllura at 526 m depth. This paralarva is somewhat larger than fig. C. © 2013 MBARI.

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Figure. - Side-oblique view of a young G. phyllura about the size of fig. C above. Note the stalked eyes, characteristic of most paralarval Taoniinae, here and in the above two photographs. Note also the characterisitc large, broadly scattered and slightly elongate chromatophores. In the above two photographs these are buried beneath smaller yellowish chromatophores that are not obvious in the dead paralarva. Photographed freshly caught by Danté Fenolio.

Distribution

Geographical distribution

The type locality is Monterey Bay, California (temperate eastern North Pacific). Its distribution extends from off Baja California to the Bering Sea to off northern Japan (Nesis, 1982).

References

Hunt, J. C. 1996. The behavior and ecology of midwater cephalopods from Monterey Bay: Submersible and laboratory observations. Ph. D. Dissertation, Univ. Calif. Los Angeles. 231 pp.

Young, R. E. 1972. The systematics and areal distribution of pelagic cephalopods from the seas off Southern California. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 97: 1-159.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Galiteuthis phyllura
Location Monterey Bay Canyon, Northeast Pacific at 36.7°N, 122.0°W.
Comments Image courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). You must obtain permission from MBARI to use this photo; please contact pressroom@mbari.org for further information
Acknowledgements Susan Von Thun, photo editing, MBARI
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
View Side
Copyright © 2011 MBARI
Scientific Name Galiteuthis phyllura
Location off Southern California
Reference Young, R. E. 1972. The systematics and areal distribution of pelagic cephalopods from the seas off Southern California. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 97: 1-159.
Size 170 mm GL
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003)
Laboratoire Arago, Banyuls-Sur-Mer, France

Page: Tree of Life Galiteuthis phyllura Berry 1911. Authored by Richard E. Young and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003). The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Young, Richard E. and Katharina M. Mangold (1922-2003). 2015. Galiteuthis phyllura Berry 1911. Version 11 October 2015 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Galiteuthis_phyllura/19574/2015.10.11 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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