Lepidoteuthis grimaldii
| Lepidoteuthis grimaldii | ||||||||||||
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The back of the scaled coat with side fins. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Lepidoteuthidae | ||||||||||||
| Pfeffer , 1912 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Lepidoteuthis | ||||||||||||
| Joubin, 1895 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Lepidoteuthis grimaldii | ||||||||||||
| Joubin , 1895 |
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii is a scaled ten-armed deep - sea squid . Very few specimens have been caught so far; accordingly little is known about the way of life.
features
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii reaches a maximum coat length of about 1 m. Then there are the arms, which when stretched out can reach about half the length of the coat. The body is relatively long and slim. In the middle of the coat there are wide fins that reach to the rear tip of the coat. The entire body is covered with large scales of skin that overlap like roof tiles. The females can reach about twice the size of the males. What is unique for the recent squid is that in the male the eighth suction cup and suction cup ring of the dorsolateral arms (arm pair II) are enlarged in saber-like arm hooks. The suction cup rings have about five times the diameter of the "normal" suction cups. They are probably more of a reproductive meaning than being used to catch prey. Arm hooks that are similarly enlarged are only found in the cuttlefish in the extinct belemnites . The reproductive organ (penis) reaches about half the length of the mantle; a special transformed arm ( hectocotylus ), as it is present in most other squids, is missing.
Way of life and distribution
The species has only become known through relatively few specimens. Many of these specimens were obtained from sperm whale stomachs and damaged accordingly. Other specimens got caught in the nets of commercial fishing vessels. The animals come from over or around 1000 m water depth. It is also assumed that the sperm whales can dive to these depths and that they have captured and eaten specimens of Lepidoteuthis grimaldii there. The species has been detected in the Atlantic ( Madeira and the Azores ), southern Indic and in the Pacific (Japan, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tasmania).
Discovery story
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii was named after the Monegasque dynasty of the Grimaldi . The name goes back to Prince Albert I of Monaco (1848–1922) who was involved in the discovery , an amateur oceanologist with his own research ship (and later even his own oceanographic institute). A sperm whale was harpooned on a research trip in 1895 , but it was too big for the princely yacht. The whale also vomited a still quite well preserved specimen of Lepidoteuthis grimaldii , which was recovered. The scientific description was made by Louis Joubin . The find was considered sensational, comparable descriptions of a scaled squid were completely unknown and it was not possible to find further specimens in the following years. The oceanographic museum (the Monaco Aquarium ) was planned very quickly after the discovery, construction began in 1899 at the latest and the discovery is still presented there today.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kir Nazimovich Nesis: Cephalopods of the World - squids, cuttlefishes, octopuses, and allies. 1987, p. 237.
- ↑ George D. Jackson, Steve O'Shea: Unique hooks in the male scaled squid Lepidoteuthis grimaldii Joubin, 1895. tonmo.com
- ↑ Mark Isaak: Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature: Etymologies ( Memento of October 23, 2002 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ L. Joubin: Cephalopodes provenant des campagnes de la Princesse-Alice (1891-1897). Result of the Campagnes Scientifiques accomplies sur son yacht par Albert Ier Prince Souverain de Monaco. 17, 1900, pp. 1-135. Bibliografía especializada Cephalopoda. ( Memento from February 3, 2009 in the web archive archive.today ) at: biologiamarina.com
literature
- GD Jackson, Steve O'Shea: Unique hooks in the male scaled squid Lepidoteuthis grimaldii. In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 83, Plymouth 2003, pp. 1099-1100. ISSN 0025-3154
- Kir Nazimovich Nesis: Cephalopods of the World - squids, cuttlefishes, octopuses, and allies. TFH Publ., Neptune City, NJ 1987, ISBN 0-86622-051-8 .