Cirrothauma

Cirrothauma
Cirrothauma murrayi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Order:	Octopoda
Family:	Cirroteuthidae
Genus:	Cirrothauma Chun, 1911 [1]
Type species
Cirrothauma murrayi Chun, 1911

Cirrothauma is a genus of deep water octopuses from the cirrate family Cirroteuthidae. The species of Cirrothauma are fragile, gelatinous deep-sea octopods with a large 'butterfly-shaped' shell.

They are unique in the Octopoda in being blind, with eyes lacking lenes and being imbedded/covered in head tissues. The genus contains a single species Cirrothauma murrayi . ^{[2] [3]}

Species and taxonomy

Two other species have formerly been included in Cirrothauma, ^[4] but have recently been allocated to their own genus ( Inopinoteuthis ): Inopinoteuthis magna (Hoyle, 1885) and Inopinoteuthis hoylei (Robson, 1932). ^{[2] [5]}

Both Cirrothauma and Inopinoteuthis have butterfly-shaped shells, and much longer arms than the related Cirroteuthis. Genera Cirrothauma and Inopinoteuthis can be separated given the presence of well-developed eyes on Inopinoteuthis (vs. vestigial eyes) as well as the presence of functional suckers with suction chambers on Inopinoteuthis (Cirrothauma have minute vestigial suckers atop elongate fleshy stalks across the mid-distal arm regions). ^[2]

Range

The single recognized species Cirrothauma murrayi has been reported from various locations across the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans, but seemingly not the Southern Ocean. ^{[6] [7]}

Species

There is a single currently recognized species within the genus Cirrothauma, though a second (as yet undescribed taxon) is indicated in molecular data. ^{[1] [2]}

• Cirrothauma murrayi Chun, 1911

References

1. Julian Finn (2016). "Cirrothauma Chun, 1911". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
2. Verhoeff, Tristan Joseph; O'Shea, Steve (2025-03-14). "A new southern hemisphere species of Cirroteuthis (Octopoda: Cirrata: Cirroteuthidae), and re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of Cirroteuthis hoylei Robson, 1932". Folia Malacologica (1). doi: 10.12657/folmal.033.003 . ISSN   1506-7629.
3. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Cirrothauma Chun, 1911". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
4. Richard E. Young; Michael Vecchione (2012). "Cirrothauma Chun 1911". Tree of Life Web Project . Retrieved 3 March 2018.
5. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Inopinoteuthis Verhoeff & O'Shea, 2025". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
6. Aldred, R. G.; Nixon, Marion; Young, John Zachary (1983). "Cirrothauma murrayi chun, a finned octopod" . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences. 301 (1103): 1–54. doi:10.1098/rstb.1983.0021.
7. Patrizia Jereb; Clyde F.E. Roper; Mark D. Norman; Julian K. Finn, eds. (2016). Cephalopds of the World An Annotated and illustrated catalogue of Cephalopods species known to date Volume 3 Octopods and Vampire Squids (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome. p. 250. ISBN   9789251079898.