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Batoteuthidae Young and Roper, 1968

Batoteuthis skolops Young and Roper, 1968

The Bush-club Squid

Richard E. Young and Clyde F. E. Roper
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Only this single species is known in the family.
Containing group: Chiroteuthid families

Introduction

Batoteuthis skolops is found only in Antarctic and subantarctic waters and little is known of its biology. It has a small head, a long tail and a very peculiar tentacle with six series of suckers on the club. It reaches a size of at least 35 cm ML.

Diagnosis

A member of the chiroteuthid families ...

Characteristics

  1. Arms
    1. Arms with suckers in two series.

  2. Tentacular club
    1. Club suckers in six series; club about 80% of tentacle length.
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      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Oral view of tentacular club, B. skolops, holotype, 51 mm ML. Drawing from Young and Roper (1968).

  3. Head
    1. Beaks: Descriptions can be found here: Lower beak; upper beak.

  4. Funnel
    1. Funnel locking-apparatus is distinctly curved.

    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. Frontal view of the funnel/mantle locking-aparatus of B. skolops, holotype. Left - Ventral view of funnel component. Right - Dorsal view of mantle component. Drawings from Young and Roper (1968).

  5. Fins
    1. Short (about 20% of ML).

  6. Gladius and Tail
    1. Long secondary conus of gladius forms core of long, slender tail; length greatest in paralarvae.
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      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Batoteuthis skolops, 95 mm ML, female. Top - Ventral view of the gladius with cross-sections. Bottom - Ventral view of the funnel, mantle, fins and tail (head lost in capture). Drawing from Young and Roper (1968).

  7. Photophores
    1. Large, subadult males with large aboral photophores occupying the tips of arms IV (see title illustration).

    2. Large, subadult females with small aboral photophores occupying the tips of arms IV.

Comments

More details of the description can be found here. The visceral nucleus is located far anteriorly within the mantle cavity.

Nomenclature

The generic name means "thorn-bush" and refers to the bushy tentacular club. The trivial name refers to anything pointed, a reference to the pointed tail.

A list of all nominal genera and species in the Batoteuthidae can be found here. The list includes the current status and type species of all genera, and the current status, type repository and type locality of all species and all pertinent references.

Life History

The smallest known individual is 30 mm ML and the largest, 350 mm ML. Unfortunately, the largest specimen described with intact tentacles is the holotype. A few growth stages have been described. Paralarval and mature individuals are unknown.

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Figure. Growth stages of B. skolops. A - Ventral view of subadult (holotype), 51 mm ML, Antarctic waters. B - Dorsal view of of juvenile, 30 mm ML (not including tail), Antarctic waters. Note the long tail and small fins. C - Ventral view of same juvenile . Drawings from Young and Roper, (1968).

Distribution

Type locality: South Pacific Ocean about 1000 km southeast of Wellington, New Zealand in the region of the Antarctic Convergence (49° 57'S; 169° 01'W). This species is found in Antarctic and adjacent waters.

B. scolopes is a pelagic species apparently occupying deep water but no definitive information in available of it's vertical distribution.

Other Names for Batoteuthis skolops Young and Roper, 1968

References

Nesis, K. N. 1982. Abridged key to the cephalopod mollusks of the world's ocean. 385,ii pp. Light and Food Industry Publishing House, Moscow. (In Russian.). Translated into English by B. S. Levitov, ed. by L. A. Burgess (1987), Cephalopods of the world. T. F. H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 351pp.

Young, R. E. and C. F. E. Roper. 1968. The Batoteuthidae, a new family of squid (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida) from Antarctic waters. Antarctic Res. Ser. 2: 185-202.

Title Illustrations
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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Batoteuthis skolops
Location Antarctic waters
Creator A. D. Hart
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By R. Young
Sex Female
Life Cycle Stage Immature
View Ventral/dorsal
Size 350 mm ML (to tip of tail)
Copyright ©
About This Page


University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA


Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA

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

Page: Tree of Life Batoteuthidae Young and Roper, 1968. Batoteuthis skolops Young and Roper, 1968. The Bush-club Squid. Authored by Richard E. Young and Clyde F. E. Roper. 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 Clyde F. E. Roper. 2009. Batoteuthidae Young and Roper, 1968. Batoteuthis skolops Young and Roper, 1968. The Bush-club Squid. Version 12 August 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Batoteuthis_skolops/19452/2009.08.12 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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