Chiroteuthidae
| Chiroteuthids | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Planctoteuthis sp. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Coleoidea |
| Order: | Teuthida |
| Suborder: | Oegopsina |
| Family: |
Chiroteuthidae Gray, 1849 |
| Genera | |
|
Asperoteuthis |
|
Asperoteuthis
Chiroteuthis
Grimalditeuthis
Planctoteuthis
New Genus B
New Genus C
The Chiroteuthidae are a family of deep-sea squid, generally small to medium in size, rather soft and gelatinous, and slow moving. They are found in most temperate and tropical oceans, but are known primarily from the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Indo-Pacific. The family is represented by approximately 12 species and four subspecies in four genera, two of which are monotypic. They are sometimes known collectively as whip-lash squid, but this common name is also applied to the Mastigoteuthidae, which are sometimes treated as a subfamily (Mastigoteuthinae) of Chiroteuthidae.
The monotypic genus Grimalditeuthis was once (and may still be) given its own family, Grimalditeuthidae. Generally speaking, chiroteuthids are not well represented by described specimens, because they are so often damaged during capture.
The Chiroteuthidae are most notable for their unique paralarval stage, known as the doratopsis stage. Although morphology varies greatly within the family, the Chiroteuthidae are distinguished by their extremely elongated bodies and (in most species) tentacles; the latter may be up to four times the mantle length in Asperoteuthis acanthoderma. The head is atop an elongated neck and the brachial pillar is well-developed, the eyes are large; in some Planctoteuthis and all Chiroteuthis species, the fourth pair of arms possess both greater girth and length than the other arms. The fragile, gelatinous body is conical and the neck cylindrical; the fins range from oval to elliptical, about 50% of the mantle length. The suckers of the arms occur in two series, and those of the clubs in four (but are absent in subadult Grimalditeuthis and absent proximally in Asperoteuthis). The club is elongated and—with the exception of Planctoteuthis species—is subdivided by symmetrical, protective membranes into two or three parts.
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Wikipedia