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Opisthoteuthis persephone: Description Continued
Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione
- Eyes
- "...rather small and inconspicuous."
- Funnel
- Slender; funnel organ a pair of small, oval pads.
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Figure. Funnel laid open to show funnel organ of O. persephone. Drawing from Berry (1918).
- Fins
- "...minute, tenuous... ."
- Gills
- Six primary lamellae on one side and 6 plus one poorly developed additional lamella on other side.
- Optic lobes and nerves
- Unknown
- Digestive system
- Digestive gland bilobed (O'Shea, 1999).
- Beaks
- Upper beak with a "distinct angle along each outer side of the beak at the shoulder.".
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Figure. Lateral view of lower (left) and upper (right) beaks of O. persephone. Drawings from Berry (1918).
- Shell
- Shell with broad U-shape.
- Saddle with a posterior groove.
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Figure. Dorsal view of shell of O. persephone. Drawing from Berry (1918).
- Pigmentation
- Aboral surfaces nearly colorless or with a light dirty gray but with traces of a superficial membrane lightly pigmented with streaks of brown.
- Oral surfaces superficial integument colorless and transparent. Deeper layer dark bluish slate but paler along the arms and over a ring-like zone a little distance from mouth.
- Suckers and cirri light yellowish brown.
- Areolae present: each with small, clear central area. Overall, areolae very small.
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Figure. Areolae of O. persephone. Left - areola in contracted state from small octopod. Right - areola in expanded state, holotype. Scale bar is 1 mm. Drawings from Berry (1918).
- Measurements and counts
Sex | ? Holotype | ? | ? |
Spread (arm tip to arm tip), mm | 330 | 225 | 170 |
Fin span | 75 | - | - |
Fin length | 20 | 15 | 15 |
Fin width | 14 | 7 | 6 |
head width | 50 | 40 | 35 |
Arm I, length (right/left) | 165/150 | 110/110 | 80/80 |
Arm II, length | 160/160 | 115/115 | 85/85 |
Arm III, length | 175/170 | 125/120 | 90/75+ |
Arm IV, length | 165/165 | 125/110 | 90/90 |
Diam. sucker no. 5, arm I | 2+ | 2 | 1.1 |
Depth web sector A | 100 | 80 | 60 |
Depth web sector C | 105 | 85 | 60 |
Depth web sector E | 115 | 85 | 60 |
These measurements and counts are from Berry, 1918. Comments
The above description is taken from Berry (1918) except where otherwise noted.
References
Berry, S.S. 1918. Report on the Cephalopoda Obtained by the F.I.S. "Endeavour" in the Great Australian Bight and Other Southern Australian Localities. Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. "Endeavour", 1909-1914, 4(5):201-298.
O'Shea, Steve. 1999. The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 112: 280pp.
About This Page
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C. , USA
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Page: Tree of Life
Opisthoteuthis persephone: Description Continued
Authored by
Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione.
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