Moroteuthopsis Pfeffer, 1900

Introduction

Kondakovia is a sub-Antarctic to true Antarctic genus of large squids (adults to 740 mm ML), primarily set apart from similar species in Onykia by the presence of marginal sucker series on the tentacular clubs in subadults to adults. 

Brief diagnosis:

An onychoteuthid ...

• with marginal suckers throughout club in subadults (unique character).
• without gladius visible beneath skin in dorsal midline.
• with 3 occipital folds.
• with fleshy longitudinal dermal ridges (K. longimana) or reticulate structure (K. nigmatullini) on the surface of the mantle.
  

Characteristics

1. Tentacles
   1. Tentacular club with 23-33 hooks flanked by complete series of small marginal suckers.
      

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      Figure. Tentacular clubs of K. longimana. Top - Dorsal view, preserved, 195 mm ML, ELTANIN sta. 1392, NMNH specimen. Photograph by R. Young. Bottom - Oral view of tentacular club. Drawing from Filippova, 1972.

2. Mantle
   1. Mantle soft and fleshy.
   2. Mantle skin with longitudinal ridges in large specimens of K. longimana (Clarke, 1980) and reticulate skin in K. nigmatullini (Laptikhovsky, Arkhipkin & Bolstad, 2008). The photographs below compare the skin of K. longimana (left, middle) with the skin of Onykia robsoni (right).
      

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      Figure. Mantle skin of two species. Left - Ventral view of portion of mantle of K. longimana, 195 mm ML (NMNH specimen). Photograph by R. Young. A - K. longimana. B - O. robsoni. A, B photographs from Clarke, 1980.

3. Gladius
   1. Gladius not visible beneath skin in dorsal midline.
   2. Gladius thin and fragile with 3 pairs of narrow longitudinal ribs: one borders rhachis, one at marginal rim and one inbetween the other two.
   3. Gladius rostrum 5-13% of ML (Laptikhovsky, Arkhipkin & Bolstad, 2008); 2-5% of ML (Clarke, 1980).
   4. Gladius rostrum tricornate dorsally in cross-section along conus field; convex rib present over full length of flat dorsal surface.
      

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      Figure. Ventral view of gladius of K. longimana with inset of a lateral view of the rostrum and a cross-section of the rostrum and conus field, 210 mm GL. Drawings from Filippova, 1972.

Distribution

This genus is thought to occupy epi- and mesopelagic waters in the Southern Ocean, where it may be circumpolar and reach northward to South Georgia and the Tasman Sea (Kubodera et al. 1998). 

Other Names for Moroteuthopsis Pfeffer, 1900

• Kondakovia Filippova, 1972

References

Clarke, M. R. 1980. Cephalopoda in the diet of sperm whales of the Southern Hemisphere and their bearing on sperm whale biology. Discovery Reports, 37: 1-324.

Filippova, Y.A. 1972. New Data on the Squids (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) from the Scotia Sea. Malacologia, 11(2):391-406.

Kubodera, T., U. Piatkowski, T. Okutani and M.R. Clarke. 1998. Taxonomy and Zoogeography of the Family Onychoteuthidae (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, No. 586: 277-291.

Laptikhovsky, V., A. Arkhipkin and K.S. Bolstad. A second species of the squid genus Kondakovia (Cephalopoda: Onychoteuthidae) from the sub-Antarctic. Polar Biology 32: 21-26.