Expanded description of Opisthoteuthis hardyi based on new specimens from the Patagonian slope

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Collins, Martin A.;Laptikhovsky, Vladimir;Strugnell, Jan M.
Abstract

Opisthoteuthis hardyi was originally described from a single male specimen caught near Shag Rocks (north-west of South Georgia) and no further specimens have been attributed to this species. During research fishing on the Patagonian slope to the south-east of the Falkland Islands 33 specimens of Opisthoteuthis were caught at depths ranging from 630 to 1391 m. Morphological measurements indicated that these specimens were conspecific to the holotype of O. hardyi. The mitochondria gene 16S rDNA was sequenced from two of these specimens and compared with a published sequence of the holotype and other Opisthoteuthidae to confirm the morphological data. This extends the geographical and bathymetric range of the species, which spans the Antarctic Polar Front. We also expand the original description, providing details of the digestive system and of the female reproductive system, with preliminary estimates of fecundity.

Journal

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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Volume

90

ISBN/ISSN

1469-7769

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Issue

3

Pages Count

7

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Publisher

Cambridge University Press

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DOI

10.1017/S0025315409000988