Moroteuthopsis longimana

Moroteuthopsis longimana, also known as the giant warty squid or longarm octopus squid,[3] is a large species of hooked squid. It attains a mantle length of at least 85 cm and probably over 1.15 m.[3] The largest complete specimen of this species, measuring 2.3 m in total length, was found in Antarctica in 2000.[4]

Moroteuthopsis longimana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Oegopsida
Family: Onychoteuthidae
Genus: Moroteuthopsis
Species:
M. longimana
Binomial name
Moroteuthopsis longimana

Description

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M. longimana is a large squid, the adults can grow to a mantle length of 740 mm, which is characterised by the presence of 33 hooks and marginal suckers throughout the tentacular club during subadult years. The gladius of this species is not visible beneath the skin in the dorsal midline. M. longimana possesses three nuchal folds.[5]

Type material

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The type material of this species, consisting of three specimens caught at the surface and a depth of 50 m, was collected just north of the South Orkney Islands[6] and is deposited at the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.[7]

Distribution

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M. longimana occurs in epipelagic and mesopelagic waters of the Southern Ocean. Its range may be circumpolar with an Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic distribution,[8] stretching as far north as South Georgia and the Tasman Sea.[9][10]

Ecology

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This squid is eaten by several predators in the Southern Ocean, mainly sharks (sleeper sharks and porbeagles, accounting for 21% and 19% of the cephalopod biomass consumed by each shark, respectively[11]), albatrosses, sperm whales and penguins.

Several prey have been identified for the diet of M. longimana, with krill as the main source of food. However, indirect methods have pointed for other high trophic level prey as other crustaceans and lanternfish.[8][12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Barratt, I. & Allcock, L. (2014). "Kondakovia longimana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T163403A1005247. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T163403A1005247.en. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ Bouchet P (2018). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Kondakovia longimana Filippova, 1972". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b O'Shea, S. 2005. Kondakovia longimana. In: Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
  4. ^ Carrington, D. (3 July 2000). "Big squid breaks record". BBC News.
  5. ^ Vecchione, M., R.E. Young & K. Tsuchiya 2003. Kondakovia longimana Filippova, 1972. Tree of Life web project.
  6. ^ Filippova, J. A. (1972). "New data on the squids (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) from the Scotia Sea (Antarctic)". Malacologia. 11: 391–406.
  7. ^ Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda Archived December 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Guerreiro, Miguel; Phillips, Richard A.; Cherel, Yves; Ceia, Filipe R.; Alvito, Pedro; Rosa, Rui; Xavier, José C. (2015). "Habitat and trophic ecology of Southern Ocean cephalopods from stable isotope analyses". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 530: 119–134. doi:10.3354/meps11266.
  9. ^ Xavier, J. C.; Rodhouse, P. G.; Trathan, P. N.; Wood, A. G. (1999). "A Geographical Information System (GIS) Atlas of cephalopod distribution in the Southern Ocean". Antarctic Science. 11 (1): 61–62. doi:10.1017/S0954102099000097. S2CID 140591721.
  10. ^ Kubodera, T.; Piatkowski, U.; Okutani, T.; Clarke, M.R. (1998). "Taxonomy and zoogeography of the family Onychoteuthidae (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 586: 277–291.
  11. ^ Cherel, Yves; Duhamel, Guy (2004). "Antarctic jaws: cephalopod prey of sharks in Kerguelen waters". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 51 (1): 17–31. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2003.09.009.
  12. ^ Nemoto, T.; Okiyama, M.; Iwasaki, N.; Kikuchi, T. (1988). "Squid as predators on krill (Euphausia superba) and prey for sperm whales in the Southern Ocean". In Sahrhage, D. (ed.). Antarctic Ocean and Resources Variability. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 292–296. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-73724-4_25. ISBN 978-3-642-73726-8.

Further reading

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