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.
Temporary Page

Architeuthid families

Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione
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
taxon links [up-->]Neoteuthidae [up-->]Architeuthidae [down<--]Oegopsida Interpreting the tree
close box

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

close box
Containing group: Oegopsida

Introduction

Architeuthid families consist of only two families, Architeuthidae and Neoteuthidae. Original evidence for placing these taxa together was based on morphology due mostly to the similarities of the fin attachment to the mantle, attachment of the buccal connective to arms IV and similarities of the club carpus (Roper & Young, 1972). However, recent molecular data by Lindgren (2010) and Lindgren et al., (2012) strongly support the close relationship between these two families.

Brief diagnosis:

An oegopsid with fins ...

Characteristics

  1. Fins
    1. Anterior fin lobes absent.
    2. Most of fin attaches to dorsolateral side of muscular mantle not gladius.
    3. 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 fins showing absence of free lobes and attachment to mantle muscle. Left - Architeuthis dux, 57 mm ML. Drawing from Roper and Young, 1972. Right - Neoteuthis thielei, 83 mm ML. Drawing from Young, 1972. Both features of the fin are readily seen in the A. dux drawing; in the N. thielei drawing an arrow indicates the anterior attachment point of the fin.

  2. Tentacles
    1. Numerous suckers present in the carpal region of the tentacle club.
    2. 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 carpal region of the tentacular club. Left - Large Architeuthis dux. Right - Alluroteuthis antarcticus, 32 mm ML. Photographs by R. Young.

      The usefullness of this character is supporting the relationship between these two families is uncertain. While the presence of numerous suckers in the carpal region is very unusual, in Architeuthis all of these suckers are paired with carpal knobs while in Alluroteuthis (and other neoteuthids) the carpal knobs (arrows) occur only along the dorsal margin of the carpal region where they are paired with distinctive carpal suckers.

  3. Attachment of buccal connectives
    1. Buccal connectives attach to the dorsal margins of arms IV.

    This is an important phylogenetic character but of more general value as it is shared by the Lycoteuthidae, Enoploteuthidae, Ancistrocheiridae, Pyroteuthidae, Histioteuthidae, Psychroteuthidae, Ommastrephidae, Neoteuthidae and Bathyteuthdae.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

On morphological grounds the relationship between the Architeuthidae and Neoteuthidae as indicated by Roper and Young (1972) is weak, however, it is stronger between these two families than either is to any other oegopsid family.

Lindgren (2010) and Lindgren et al. (2012, using molecular techniques, found also that the Architeuthidae and Neoteuthidae grouped together, with strong support. The relationship between the architeuthid families and other oegopsid families was less clear. The 2010 study found them grouping with the histioteuthid families in two of their three analyses (the other analysis was unable to determine a relationship within the Oegopsida) while the 2012 study found that they grouped most closely with the Lycoteuthidae but with weak support for the latter.

References

Lindgren, A.R. 2010.Molecular inference of phylogenetic relationships among Decapodiformes (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) with special focus on the squid Order Oegopsida. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 56: 77-90.

Lindgren, A. R., M. S. Pankey, F. G. Hochberg and T. H. Oakley. 2012. A multi-gene phylogeny of Cephalopoda supports convergent morphological evolution in association with multiple habitat shifts in the marine environment. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012, 12:129-144.

Verrill, A. E. 1879. The cephalopods of the north-eastern coast of America. Part I. The gigantic squids (Architeuthis) and their allies; with observations on similar large species from foreign localities. Trans. Connecticut Acad. Sciences 5:23:177-257.

Young, R. E. 1972. The systematics and areal distribution of pelagic cephalopods from the seas off Southern California. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 97: 1-159.

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 Architeuthis "princeps"
Comments Modified from Verrill, 1879.
Reference Verrill, A. E. 1879. The cephalopods of the north-eastern coast of America. Part I. The gigantic squids (Architeuthis) and their allies; with observations on similar large species from foreign localities. Trans. Connecticut Acad. Sciences 5:23:177-257.
Scientific Name Neoteuthis thielei
Location Off California, USA
Reference Young, R. E. 1972. The systematics and areal distribution of pelagic cephalopods from the seas off Southern California. Smithson. Contr. Zool., 97: 1-159.
Creator C. McSweeny
View Dorsal
Size 83 mm ML
Collection Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA


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

Page: Tree of Life Architeuthid families. 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.

Citing this page:

Young, Richard E. and Michael Vecchione. 2019. Architeuthid families. Version 26 March 2019 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Architeuthid_families/149666/2019.03.26 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, 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

Architeuthid families

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top