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Family BOLITAENIDAE


Compiler and date details

C.C. Lu, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

Introduction

The pelagic octopods of this family have gelatinous bodies and short arms which are shorter than the mantle. The arms are equipped with a single row of suckers and are connected by a web of moderate depth. The mantle is oval and has a wide aperture.

The family Bolitaenidae was erected by Chun (1911) to accommodate the genera Eledonella Verrill and Bolitaena Steenstrup. Chun considered the genus Japetella Hoyle to be a junior synonym of Bolitaena. Robson (1932) re-established Japetella as a valid genus. Thore (1949) provided the first and only comprehensive taxonomic study of the family; worldwide four genera and five nominal species are known.

Allen (1945) recorded the first Australian representative of the family, Eledonella sheardi from the north coast of New South Wales. Brandt (1983) reported Japetella sp. also from the coast of New South Wales. Lu & Phillips (1985) extended the distribution of Japetella to include Coral Sea.

Almost nothing is known about the biology of the members of this family. Capture of a mature female of Bolitaena microcotyla brooding 12 larvae in a large chamber formed by the arms and web was reported by Young (1972), who suggested that brooding may be universal in pelagic incirrate octopods.

Japetella diaphana, in the North Atlantic, has been reported to exhibit ontogenetic descent, young smaller than 25 mm were found in 100–330 m, and adults and subadults were found from 600 to 3000–4000 m (Lu & Clarke 1975; Roper & Young 1975; Hochberg et al. 1991).

Bolitaenids have been reported in the diet of Alepisaurus ferox captured in the South West Pacific (Rancurel 1970).

Members of this family occur in all major oceans in tropical to temperate waters. In Australian waters they have only been captured in the Coral Sea and Tasman Sea (Lu 2001). The absence of records from the coast of Western Australia probably reflects the paucity of sampling.

 

Diagnosis

The pelagic octopods of this family have gelatinous bodies, with arms shorter than the mantle. The arms are equipped with a single row of suckers and are connected by a web of moderate depth. The mantle is oval with the aperture wide. Adult females have a luminous organ in the form of a thick ring under the integument around the mouth. The radula is comb-like. Males lack a hectocotylus.

 

General References

Allan, J. 1945. Planktonic cephalopod larvae from the eastern Australian coast. Records of the Australian Museum 21: 317-350 pls 24-27

Brandt, S.B. 1983. Pelagic squid associations with a warm-core eddy of the East Australian Current. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 34: 573-585

Chun, C. 1911. Cirrothauma, ein Blinder Cephalopod. 21 pp. Dissertation : Leipzig.

Hochberg, F.G., Nixon, M. & Toll, R.B. 1992. Order Octopoda Leach, 1818. pp. 213-280 in Sweeney, M.J., Roper, C.F.E., Mangold, K.M., Clarke, M.R. & Boletzky, S.V. (eds). "Larval" and juvenile cephalopods: a manual for their identification. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 513: 1-282

Lu, C.C. 2001. Cephalopoda. pp. 129-308 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 17.2 Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xii 353 pp. [Date published 3 July 2001]

Lu, C.C. & Clarke, M.R. 1975. Vertical distribution of cephalopods at 11°N, 20°W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 55: 369-389

Lu, C.C. & Phillips, J.U. 1985. An annotated checklist of Cephalopoda from Australian waters. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Victoria 2: 21-36

Rancurel, P. 1970. Les contenus stomacaux d'Alepisaurus ferox dans le sud-ouest Pacifique (Céphalopodes). Cahiers O.R.S.T.O.M. Serie Océanographique 8(4): 4-87

Robson, G.C. 1932. A Monograph of the Recent Cephalopoda. Pt 2. The Octopoda (excluding the Octopodinae). London : British Museum (Natural History) 359 pp. 6 pls.

Roper, C.F.E. & Young, R.E. 1975. Vertical distribution of pelagic cephalopods. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology No. 209: 1-51

Thore, S. 1949. Investigations on the Dana Octopoda. Pt 1. Bolitaenidae, Amphitretidae, Vitreledonellidae, and Alloposidae. Dana Reports 33: 1-85

Young, R.E. 1972. Brooding in a bathypelagic octopus. Pacific Science 26(4): 400-404

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
12-Feb-2010 (import)