Abralia

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Abralia
Abralia redfieldi.jpg
Abralia redfieldi
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Oegopsida
Family: Enoploteuthidae
Genus: Abralia
Gray, 1849 [1]
Type species
Onychoteuthis armatus
Quoy & Gaimard, 1832
Subgenera

Abralia
Asteroteuthis
Astrabralia
Enigmoteuthis
Heterabralia
Pygmabralia

Contents

Abralia astrosticta Abralia astrosticta.jpg
Abralia astrosticta

Abralia is a genus of squid comprising around 20 species from the family Enoploteuthidae. They are small squid which can be found in the epipelagic to mesopelagic zones while some species are found in water with shallow substrates on steep slopes on the boundary of the mesopelagic zone. They are distinguished from other members of the Enoploteuthidae by not normally having large, black photophores at the tips of arms IV, although if these are present they are not covered in black chromatophores, [2] and having fins which extend beyond their tail. The photophores of the integument are characteristicand are found in the three types . "Lensed" photophores are a blue color with a white ring, "simple" photophores are small and violet-colored and the "complex" photophores are surrounded by small green satellite points and have a green centre. The complex photophores will frequently appear to be blue depending on their physiological state. The integument also has small black chromatophores which look like dots. [3] They have 5-12 variably sized photophores on the eye. Either the right or left arm IV is hectocotylized. [2]

Abralia is the most speciose genus in the Enoploteuthidae [2] and is normally divided in to six subgenera, however, recent studies suggest that these may not form natural groupings. [3] They have worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical seas. They spend the day at depths below 600m and at night they move to less than 200m in depth. These quid are important prey species for large fish such as tuna and billfish as well as toothed whales. [2]

Species

The following species are currently recognised and are divided into six subgenera: [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enoploteuthidae</span> Family of squids

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<i>Abraliopsis</i> Genus of molluscs

Abraliopsis is a genus of squid in the family Enoploteuthidae comprising 11 nominal species. Species are characterised by the presence of photophores on arm pair IV. Suckers are absent from this arm. The type species is Abraliopsis hoylei.

<i>Enoploteuthis</i> Genus of squids

Enoploteuthis is a genus of squid in the family Enoploteuthidae. The species of Enoploteuthisare most easily recognised by having a larger tail when compared to the other genera in the Enoploteuthidae. The tail's size is emphasised not having the fins extending along its sides. In related genera there is a narrow extension of the fins along the tail. Other characteristics include the presence of suckers on the distal portion of arms IV where there at no photophores present; the tentacular club has two rows of hooks and no marginal suckers; on the buccal crown there are typical chromatophores on the aboral surface but on the oral surface there may be some light skin pigmentation. They have 9-10 photophores on the eye and they have complex photophores in the skin. In the females the Spermatangia receptacles are at the posterior junction of muscles used to retract the funnel and the muscles which retract the head. Enoploteuthis differs from other genera of the Enoploteuthidae in having two rather than three types of photophores in its integument and these are on the ventral areas of the head, funnel and mantle. All species of Enoploteuthis which have been studied have the most complex type of photophoreand seems to be a distinctive characteristic of this genus. Enoploteuthis contains the largest species in the family, attaining a mantle length of 130mm.

<i>Abraliopsis morisii</i> Species of mollusc

Abraliopsis morisii is a species of bioluminescent squid in the family Enoploteuthidae. The species occurs in tropical to warm temperate waters in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea. It can be found in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. Jean Baptiste Vérany described the species in 1839 and it reaches lengths of 25 to 33 millimetres. It is rated as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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Abralia omiae is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod known only from its type locality, the Dimitry Mendeleyev seamount in the Pacific tropics. A. omiae is a small species, less than 3 cm in mantle length.

<i>Uroteuthis</i> Genus of squids

Uroteuthis is a genus of 14 species of common inshore squids of the Indo-West Pacific and is further subdivided into 3 subgenera. The members of the genus Uroteuthis are the only squids of the family Loliginidae that possess photophores and all species in the genus have a pair of photophore organs on the ventral surface of their ink sac either side of their intestine.

<i>Doryteuthis</i> Genus of squids

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Loliolus is a genus of squid from the family Loliginidae from the Indo-Pacific region. The genus is divided into two subgenera Loliolus and Nipponololigo. They are small squids of less than 150mm in mantle length which have an expanded tentacular club. This club has 4 series of suckers. The sucker rings have plate-like teeth which are square in shape all around them. The males' hectocotylus has a ventral crest which is created by the fusion of the protective membrane with the ventral series of papillae and this crest completely obscures the conical shape of the papillae. The mantle is rounded posteriorly and lacks the posterior tail-like lobe while the fins are positioned on the rear of the mantle and extend to the posterior tip of the mantle. Their eggs are small and the males' spermatophore has a short cement body. They do not possess photophores. The two subgenera are distinguished by the hectocotylus which in Loliolus encompasses the entire arm and there are no unmodified suckers while in Nipponololigo the arm is only partly hectocotylsed and has normal suckers at its base.

<i>Enoploteuthis leptura</i> Species of squid

Enoploteuthis leptura, the hooked enope squid, is a species of squid from the family Enoploteuthidae. It is the type species of the genus Enoploteuthis, which is in turn the type genus of the Enoploteuthidae.

<i>Gonatopsis borealis</i> Species of squid

Gonatopsis borealis, the Boreopacific armhook squid, is a species of squid from the North Pacific Ocean. It is a member of the family Gonatidae. It is an abundant species which is currently caught mainly as a bycatch by fishing boats targeting other quarry. It is an important prey species for many commercially important species of fish, as well as for marine mammals.

Lampadioteuthis megaleia is a small, colorful squid, the only species in the only genus in the monotypic family Lampadioteuthidae. It is sometimes known as the wonderful firefly squid. It was formerly classified in the family Lycoteuthidae, but differs from them mainly by having a hectocotylus in the males and by the possession of a rostrum on the gladius.

References

  1. 1 2 Julian Finn (2016). "Abralia Gray, 1849". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 P. Jereb; C.F.E. Roper, eds. (2010). Cephalopods of the World an Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cephalopod Species Known to Date Volume 2 Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization Rome. p. 188. ISBN   978-92-5-106720-8.
  3. 1 2 Young, Richard E.; Kotaro Tsuchiya (2014). "Abralia Gray, 1849". Tree of Life Project. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  4. Hidaka, K. and T. Kubodera. (2000). Squids of the genus Abralia (Cephalopoda: Enoploteuthidae) from the western tropical Pacific with a description of Abralia omiae, a new species. Bulletin of Marine Science 66(2) 417-43.