Oh my goodness! Unless you are a Tree of Life developer, you really shouldn't be here. This page is part of our beta test site, where we develop new features for the ToL, often messing up a thing or two in the process. Please visit the official version of this page, which is available here.
Under Construction

Abralia (Asteroteuthis) veranyi (Ruppell 1844)

Kotaro Tsuchiya
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
Containing group: Abralia

Introduction

A. veranyi is the sole member of the subgenus Asteroteuthis. It is one of the more widely distributed Abralia species in the Atlantic Ocean.

Brief diagnosis:

An Abralia with ...

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. Anterolateral view of A. veranyi. Photograph by M. Vecchione.

Characteristics

  1. Tentacle clubs
    1. Two or three hooks on ventral side.
    2. Two rows of large suckers on dorsal side of manus.
    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. veranyi. Drawing from Adam ().

  2. Arms
    1. Tips of arms I-III with suckers in 3-4 series.
      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. Dorsal view of the arm crown of A. veranyi, female, 38 mm ML with a close-up insert of one arm tip. Note that only the very end of the sucker-bearing arm tip has photophores in 3-4 series. White arrows point to the most distal hook on several arms to indicate how short this tip is compared to the length of the sucker-bearing region. Note also the abrupt decrease in sucker size at the beginning of this tip.

    2. Left ventral arm of male hectocotylized.
    3. Hectocotylus with two different sized off-set flaps.
    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-lateral (= oral-dorsal) view of the distal portion of the hectocotylus from A. veranyi. Drawing from Adam ().

  3. Eye Photophores
    1. Five complex organs: two large terminal opaque organs with three small silvery organs between them.
      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. Ventral view of the head of a young A. veranyi, showing the ocular photophores (white) on the eyeballs and the overlying integumental photophores (green and purple). Note the distortion in the center caused by exhalent water from the funnel distorting the water surface in the dish containing the squid. Photograph by M. Vecchione.

  4. Integumental photophores
    1. Ventral mantle and head with scattered arrangement of integumental organs.

  5. Reproductive structures:
    1. Spermatangia receptacles. Modified tissue on the mantle, ventral to the gladius, and forward to cover part of the nuchal cartilage.
      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. Dorsolateral view with mantle folded posteriorly of the spermatangia receptacles of A. veranyi. Note the large modified area on the underside of the mantle and the encroachment of modified tissue over part of the nuchal cartilage (arrow). This whole region has spermatangia attached.

       

Distribution

Vertical distribution

Two juvenile specimens were caught in daylight at 700-800m deep and in night at 60-20m in 10° N, 20° W by midwater tow (Lu & Clarke, 1975)

Geographical distribution

This species was originally described from the Mediterranean Sea. It is the most widely distributed member of the Atlantic Abralia species associated with the distant-neritic waters. Distribution, were known, is from the northern Sargasso Sea to Bear Seamount, Bahama Islands and northern Brasil in the West Atlantic, and south off France to Benguella water in the East Atlantic.

References

Lu, C. C. and M. R. Clarke, 1975. Vertical Distribution of cephalopods at 11° N 20° W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55 (2): 369-389.

Title Illustrations
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
Scientific Name Abralia veranyi
Location Western North Atlantic off the Bahamas
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
View Side
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Abralia veranyi
Copyright © W. Adam
About This Page


Tokyo University of Fisheries, Tokyo, Japan

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Tsuchiya, Kotaro. 2014. Abralia (Asteroteuthis) veranyi (Ruppell 1844). Version 21 January 2014 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Abralia_%28Asteroteuthis%29_veranyi/19654/2014.01.21 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Leaf Page.

Each ToL leaf page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a leaf at the tip of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a leaf and a branch of the Tree of Life is that a leaf cannot generally be further subdivided into subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Abralia (Asteroteuthis) veranyi

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top