Note

Notes from type description of A. Lui

Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione

Introduction

This species is known from a single damaged specimen that was taken from the stomach of a fish (a ling). The specimen was without a funnel or mantle, but had arms, one tentacle and eyes. Apparently the sucker rings from the arm and tentacle suckers were missing.

Brief diagnosis:

An Asperoteuthis ...

Characteristics

  1. Arms
    1. Enlarged arm suckers in middle and distal regions of arms II and III; arm IV suckers smaller, none enlarged.
  2. Tentacle
    1. Tentacle divided into two portions: proximal portion much shorter than distal portion; proximal portion without suckers and with mostly fused trabeculae.
    2. Tentacle shape lanceolate.
    3. Distal portion of club with 50 trabeculae on either margin and 180 suckers in four series (45 transverse rows of suckers).
    4. Marginal suckers larger than medial suckers.
    5. Club tip sharp, without terminal photophore.
    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 A. lui. Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).

  3. Photophores
    1. Tentacular stalk with 120 knob-like photophores that alternate in size.
      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 a portion of the tentacular stalk of A. lui, showing photophores of two sizes. Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).

    2. Aboral surface of tentacle with median series of seven photophores with aboral pores; photophores and pores increase in size distally. Distal photophore about 4 mm in length.
      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. Aboral view of the tentacular club of A. lui, showing mid-line photophores. Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).

    3. "Patch of iridescent tissue on ventral side of eyeball."
    4. photo
    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. Ventrolateral view of the eyeball of A. lui, showing "iridescent tissue" (shaded area). Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas (1999).

  4. Measurements
    1. Arm I length - 260 mm; arm II length - 300 mm; arm III length - 320 mm; arm IV length - 380 mm.
    2. Tentacle length - 2.15 m; club length - 130 mm.
    3. Eye diameter - 30 mm; lens diameter - 10 mm.

Comments

This description is taken from Salcedo-Vargas, 1999.

Distribution

Type locality - Cook Straight, New Zealand. Taken from the stomach of a ling (fish).

References

Salcedo-Vargas, M.A. 1999. An asperoteuthid squid (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Chiroteuthidae) from New Zealand misidentified as Architeuthis. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 75:47-49.

About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA


National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA

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

Page: Tree of Life Notes from type description of A. Lui Authored by Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione. 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.

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Asperoteuthis lui

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