184
MALCOLM R. CLAFLKE
F. Ancistrocheirus
It will possibly be necessary to unite this genus with Thelidioteuthis
when more material becomes available.
1. Ancistrocheirus lesueuri (d’orbigny, 1839)
Onychoteuthis Lesueurii d’orbigny, 1835-1848
Enoploteuthis Lesueurii d’orbigny, 1845
This species has been recorded from Felidu Atoll, Indian Ocean
(Hoyle, 1906a) and the Azores (Joubin, 1900) and it occurs off Durban
(Clarke, unpublished). The largest has a mantle length of 39.0 cm.
Several specimens have been taken from the stomachs of Sperm
whales (Joubin, 1900; Clarke unpublished).
G. Thelidioteuthis
1. Thelidioteuthis ulessandrini (VBrany, 1851)
Loligo Alessandrinii Vdrany, 1851
Enoploteuthis polyonyx Troschel, 1857
Onychia caribaea Steenstrup, 1880
Abralia ntegabps Verrill, 1882b
Enoploteuthis pallida Pfeffer, 1884
Cdliteuthis Alessandrinii Appellof, 1889
Abraliu polyonyx Carus, 1890
Thelidioteuthis polyonyx Pfeffer, 1900
This species has been recorded fi-om the Mediterranean (VBrany,
1861; Troschel, 1857; Appellbf, 1889; Pfeffer, 1912; Joubin, 1920;
Naef, 1923; Degner, 1925; Issel, 1931a), the eastern North Atlantic
(Joubin, 1920), the western North Atlantic (Verrill, 1884, 1885; Voss,
1956b), the South Atlantic (Pfeffer, 1884), the Indian Ocean (Chun,
1910a), the East Indies (Adam, 1954), the Society Islands, South
Pacific (Pfeffer, 1884) and off Japan (Berry, 1912c; Sasaki, 1920,1929a).
It has been caught with open nets fished to as little as 25 m (Degner,
1925) and to as much as 3 000 m (Joubin, 1920) but most have been
taken at less than 1 000 m. Chun (1910) first illustrated larval stages
of this species and this work was later supplemented by Issel (1931a).
During growth, the arms and tentacles become relatively longer, the
head becomes relatively longer and then shorter, the body becomes
relatively narrower and the fin relatively longer (Fig. 35). The largest
recorded specimen has a mantle length of 2.9 cm (Verrill, 18841885).