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Taonius pavo (Lesueur, 1821)

Richard E. Young
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Containing group: Taonius

Introduction

Taonius pavo is the type species of the genus and may be restricted in distribution to the Atlantic Ocean.
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Figure. Dorsal view of T. pavo, mature male, 539 m ML. Drawing from Voss (1980, Fig. 8a, p. 391).

Brief diagnosis:

A Taonius with ...

Characteristics

  1. Arms
    1. Arms suckers in an adult with 3-4 low teeth distally (Joubin, 1900).

  2. Tentacles
    1. Enlarged suckers of the medial two series on the club manus with two enlarged, hook-like teeth; teeth may be equal or unequal in size. Secondary teeth absent.
    2. Suckers of marginal series of manus circular (ie, not laterally compressed) with long, pointed teeth on distal and lateral margin of sucker ring.
    3. Tentacular stalk with two series of locking suckers on distal 2/3 to 3/4 of stalk. Distinct carpal cluster at base of manus with 6-7 smooth ringed and matching knobs; knobs not always obvious.
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    Figure. Oral view of the tentacular club of T. pavo, 240 mm ML, central North Atlantic, preserved. A few, proxmal, medial sucker-rings missing. Photograph by R. Young.

    Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
    Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

    Figure. Oral view of the tentacular club of T.pavo, immature male, 198 mm ML. Drawing from Voss 1980 (Fig. 8e, p. 391).

Life History

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Figure. T. pavo growth stages. Top - Paralarva. Bottom - Juvenile. Drawings from Voss (1980, Fig. 8c, b, p. 391).

Distribution

Type locality: ‘Sandy Bay’, Atlantic Ocean.

T. pavo is relatively common in the North Atlantic. Vecchione, et. al. (2010) found it throughout their sampling range in the Central North Atlantic from 41.2° to 59.98°N but found them most common at the southern end of the range. Voss, et. al. (1992) suggested it's distribution may extend south to the Southern Subtropical Convergence and possibly into the Western Indian Ocean in the area of the Angulhas Current.

References

Joubin, L. 1900. Céphalopodes provenant des Campagnes de la Princesse-Alice (1991-1897). Résult. Camp. Scient. Monaco, 17: 1-35.

Vecchione, M., R.E. Young, and U. Piatkowski. 2010. Cephalopods of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Mar. Biol. Res. 6:25-52.

Voss, N. A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bull. Mar. Sci. 30: 365-412.

Voss N. A., S. J. Stephen and Zh. Dong 1992. Family Cranchiidae Prosch, 1849. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 513: 187-210.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Taonius pavo
Location off Florida
Comments The eyes are just beginning the transition to a hemispherical shape. Large photophores appear to cover he posterior surface of the eyes.
Creator E. Widder
Acknowledgements Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Life Cycle Stage young
View Dorsal
Copyright © E. Widder/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
About This Page
Figures by Voss printed with the Permission of the Bulletin of Marine Science.


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Richard E. Young at

Page: Tree of Life Taonius pavo (Lesueur, 1821). Authored by Richard E. Young. 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. 2014. Taonius pavo (Lesueur, 1821). Version 06 December 2014 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Taonius_pavo/19611/2014.12.06 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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