Hooked squid

Hooked squid
Onychoteuthis banksii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Coleoidea
Order: Teuthida
Suborder: Oegopsina
Family: Onychoteuthidae
Gray, 1849
Genera

Onychoteuthis
Onykia
Ancistroteuthis
Kondakovia
Notonykia
Filippovia
Callimachus

The hooked squid, family Onychoteuthidae, currently comprise approximately 20–25 species (several known from only single life stages and thus unconfirmed), in six or seven genera. They range in mature mantle length from 7 cm to a suggested length of 2 m for the largest member, Onykia robusta. The family is characterised by the presence of hooks only on the tentacular clubs, a simple, straight, funnel–mantle locking apparatus, and a 'step' inside the jaw angle of the lower beak. With the exception of the Arctic Ocean, the family is found worldwide.

Species

Reaching a mantle length of 2 m, Onykia robusta is the largest onychoteuthid and one of the largest of all squid
A nearly mature female of the undescribed species Onykia sp. A (27.2 cm ML), taken from the stomach of a swordfish

(*) indicates taxa requiring further taxonomic investigation

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 12, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.