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Family MASTIGOTEUTHIDAE


Compiler and date details

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

Introduction

Members of the family Mastigoteuthidae Verrill, 1881 are medium to large sized squid (maximum mantle length (ML) 50–100 cm) with gelatinous body consistency. The family comprises two genera, Mastigoteuthis Verrill and Echinoteuthis Joubin. Worldwide over 18 nominal species have been described. Due to their deep water habitat, mastigoteuthids are easily damaged during trawling operations, and hence many species are only poorly delineated. The taxonomy of the family is badly in need of revision.

Mastigoteuthis agassizi, the type species of the genus Mastigoteuthis, was described from the western North Atlantic by Verrill (1881). Allan (1945) recorded the first Mastigoteuthis species from Australian waters. Four nominal species were listed by Lu & Phillips (1985).

The body of Mastigoteuthis is often pink or brick red in colour. Some species have minute dermal tubercles covering the body surface. Roper & Lu (1990) described these structures in Mastigoteuthis cordiformis and M. hjorti and identified the tissue as being elastic cartilage or fibro-cartilage. The function of these tubercles is suggested to be aid in drag reduction, at least in M. cordiformis.

The tissues of Mastigoteuthis are highly vacuolated (Dilly et al. 1977); vacuoles are found in the arms, at the front of the head, in the cartilage, the mantle and the fins; the tentacles, however, have a dense musculature. The vacuolated tissues, containing ammonium rich fluid, provide buoyancy for the animal (Clarke et al. 1979). Based on the distribution of vacuolated tissues, Dilly et al. (1977) suggested that mastigoteuthids, when not swimming, lie vertically in the sea with arms held upwards, the denser tentacles hanging downwards.

No comprehensive information on mastigoteuthids is available. Their food is probably mainly crustaceans. Verrill (1882) and Rancurel (1971) found crustacean remains in the stomach contents of Mastigoteuthis agassizii and M. grimaldii. The tentacles, however, have a dense musculature, although frequently species of Mastigoteuthis have been captured in the midwater trawl tows, they are not common in the stomach contents of predators (Clarke 1986). The known predators of various Mastigoteuthis species include Alepisaurus ferox, Globicephalus melaena, Hyperoodon planifrons, Mesoplodon carlhubbsi and Physester catodon (Rees & Maul 1956; Clarke 1986).

Mastigoteuthids occur from the tropical waters to the polar regions. Closing-net data indicate that all species live at depths of 500 to 1000 m diurnally and may ascend to shallower depths at night, even to as shallow as 50 to 100 m (Clarke & Lu 1975; Lu & Clarke 1975; Roper & Young 1975).

Several mastigoteuthid species (at least four) have been recorded from Australian waters (Lu & Phillips 1985), but their exact distribution is unknown. None of the species is endemic in Australian waters; some may have cosmopolitan distributions (cf. Nesis 1982).

 

Diagnosis

The family is characterised by an oval funnel locking-cartilage, with inward projecting knobs, similar to Chiroteuthis, except the posterior knob is generally poorly developed and occasionally the medial knob is also poorly developed. The arms bear biserial toothed suckers and, as in chiroteuthids, the ventral arms are greatly enlarged. The long and whip-like tentacles bear many hundreds of minute suckers. The buccal connectives attach to the ventral borders of the ventral arms. The fins are large. Many species have photophores on the surface of the mantle, ventral surface of the head and ventral arms, and on the ventral surface of the eyeball. The males do not have a hectocotylised arm. There is no distinctive larval stage.

 

General References

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

Clarke, M.R. 1986. Cephalopods in the diet of odontocetes. pp. 281-321 in Bryden, M.M. & Harrison, R. (eds). Research on Dolphins. Oxford : Oxford University Press.

Clarke, M.R., Denton, E.J. & Gilpin-Brown, J.B. 1979. On the use of ammonium for buoyancy in squids. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 59: 259-276

Clarke, M.R. & Lu, C.C. 1975. Vertical distribution of cephalopods at 18°N, 25°W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 55: 165-182

Dilly, P.N., Nixon, M. & Young, J.Z. 1977. Mastigoteuthis — the whip-lash squid. Journal of Zoology, London 181: 527-559

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

Nesis, K.N. 1982. Cephalopods of the World. English Translation from Russian. Levitov, B.S. (Transl.), Burgess, L.A. (ed.) (1987) Neptune City : T.F.H. Publications, Inc. 351 pp. [English Translation from Russian]

Rancurel, P. 1971. Mastigoteuthis grimaldi (Joubin, 1895) Chiroteuthidae peu connu de l'Atlantique tropical (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Cahiers O.R.S.T.O.M. Serie Océanographique 9: 125-145

Rees, W.J. & Maul, G.E. 1956. The Cephalopoda of Madeira. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zool. 3: 257-281

Roper, C.F.E. & Lu, C.C. 1990. Comparative morphology and function of dermal structures in oceanic squids (Cephalopoda). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology No. 493: 1-40

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

Verrill, A.E. 1881. Report on the cephalopods and on some additional species dredged by the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer, Fish Hawk during the season of 1880. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 8: 99-116 pls 1-8

Verrill, A.E. 1882. Report on the cephalopods of the north eastern coast of America. Report of the United States Fish Commission 1879: 211-450

 

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)
20-Mar-2014 TEUTHIDA 20-Mar-2014 MODIFIED Dr Julian Finn (NMV)
12-Feb-2010 (import)