Ommastrephidae

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Ommastrephidae
File:Lesser Flying Squid - Todaropsis eblanae.jpg
Lesser flying squid (Todaropsis eblanae)
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Coleoidea
Cohort: Neocoleoidea
Superorder: Decapodiformes
Order: Teuthida
Suborder: Oegopsina
Family: Ommastrephidae
Steenstrup, 1857
Subfamilies

Illicinae
Ommastrephinae
Todarodinae
...and see text

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The Ommastrephidae are a family of squid containing three subfamilies, 11 genera, and over 20 species. They are widely distributed globally and are extensively fished for food. One species, Todarodes pacificus, comprises around half of the world's cephalopod catch annually.[1]

Some members of Ommastrephidae (volplaning species) are known to have the ability to glide out of water, earning them the common name of "flying squid".[2]

Description

File:Funnel grooves of ommastrephid subfamilies.jpg
Funnel grooves of ommastrephid subfamilies

The Ommastrephidae are small to large squids, with mantle lengths ranging from that of the glass squid (Hyaloteuthis pelagica) at 9 cm (3.5 in),[3] to the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) at 1.5 m (4.9 ft).[4] The mantle narrows towards the back and possesses large terminal fins.[5] The family is characterized by an inverted T-shaped funnel locking cartilage.[2][5] They have an easily recognizable, slender, feather-shaped gladius with a hollow cone structure (the primary conus). Light organs (photophores) are present along the head and mantle of members of the subfamily Ommastrephinae.[2][5]

Ommastrephid arms have a double series of suckers. The enlarged tips (the clubs) of the tentacles have four rows of suckers, except in the genus Illex, which has eight. Hooks are absent. One of the ventral arms develops into a secondary sexual organ (the hectocotylus) in males.[1]

All ommastrephids are active predators. Their arms and tentacles bear sharp teeth and are used to grasp and bring prey to their beaked mouths.[6] They are very strong swimmers, and some species are known to glide out of water to escape predators.[2]

Ommastrephid paralarvae are distinctive for having fused tentacles, looking like a single "proboscis". It gradually splits into two as the paralarvae grow becoming completely separated once they reach mantle lengths of 5 to 10 mm (0.20 to 0.39 in).[2][6]

Distribution and habitat

Ommastrephids usually occur in pelagic waters, but can also be found in neritic habitats.[2] They are found worldwide.[1][6]

Taxonomy

Humboldt squid
(Dosidicus gigas)
Neon flying squid
(Ommastrephes bartramii)

Ommastrephidae was first established by the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup in 1857. It is classified under the suborder Oegopsina of the order Teuthida (squids). It is divided into three subfamilies - Illicinae, Ommastrephinae, and Todarodinae; further subdivided into 11 genera and more than 20 species.

These subfamilies, genera, species, and subspecies are classified under Ommastrephidae:

  • Family Ommastrephidae

See also

References

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  3. Nesis, K. N. 1982. Abridged key to the cephalopod mollusks of the world's ocean. 385,ii pp. Light and Food Industry Publishing House, Moscow. (In Russian.). Translated into English by B. S. Levitov, ed. by L. A. Burgess (1987), Cephalopods of the world. T. F. H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 351pp.
  4. Glaubrecht, M. & M.A. Salcedo-Vargas 2004. The Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas (Orbigny, 1835): History of the Berlin specimen, with a reappraisal of other (bathy-)pelagic gigantic cephalopods (Mollusca, Ommastrephidae, Architeuthidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 80(1): 53–69.
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  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links