Abralia redfieldi Voss 1955

Introduction

A. redfieldi is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This species is very similar to the Pacific species A. similis, but separable by the larger numbers of arm hooks (13-16 vs. 6-12 in A. similis).

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Figure. Abralia redfieldi, mature female, 29 mm ML, ventral view. © 1955 Bulletin of Marine Science.

Characteristics

1. Tentacle clubs
   1. Two or three hooks on ventral side.
   2. Two rows of large suckers on dorsal side of manus.
      
      

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      Figure. Oral view of the tentacular club of A. redfieldi, holotype. Drawing from Voss (1955, p. 100, Fig. 4E).
      

      
      
2. Hectocotylus
   1. Right ventral arm of male hectocotylized.
   2. Hectocotylus with very large bilobed flap, distal to arm hooks, on ventral margin and small, more distal flap on dorsal margin.
   

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   Figure. Medial view of the hectocotylized right arm IV of A. redfieldi. Drawing from Cairns  (1976, p. 243, Fig. 3B).

3. Eye Photophores
   1. Five, silvery organs.
   

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   Figure. Ventral view of an eyeball of A. redfieldi showing the ocular photophores. Drawing from Voss (1955, p. 100, Fig. 4H)
   

4. Integumental Photophores
   1. Ventral mantle and head with scattered arrangement of integumental organs.
      
      

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      Figure. A. redfieldi, ? mm ML, ventral view of head photophores. Photographed by M. Vecchione.

5. Epidermis
   1. Thick, fragile, and gelatinous.

Comments

1. Five monotypic, silvery eye photophores.
2. Large, bilobed proximal flap of hectocotylus.
3. Small size and thick, gelatinous epidermis.

A. grimpei also resembles the above species but has more than 5 eye photophores.

Distribution

Vertical distribution

Geographical distribution

Type locality: Off Gun Cay, Bahamas (western North Atlantic).

General distribution: "Tropical waters of western Atlantic, from the northern part of the Sargasso Sea to north-eastern Brazil, abundant near Bahamas, Bermuda, Great and Small Antilles, but absent from the slope of America. It occurs also in western Africa near Senegal." (Nesis, 1982, translation provided by M. Lipinski). Lipinski (1983) extended the range to 45°S, 54°W (western South Atlantic, well off southern Argentina).

References

Lipinski, M. 1983. A description of a new species of enoploteuthid cephalopod, Abralia siedleckyi spec. nov., with some remarks on Abralia redfieldi G. Voss, 1955. Veliger, 25(3):255-265.

Lu, C. C. and M. R. Clarke, 1975. Vertical Distribution of cephalopods at 11° N 20° W in the North Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55 (2): 369-389.

Nesis, K.N. 1982. Abridged key to the cephalopod molluscs of the world’s oceans. Moscow: Light and Food Industry

Publishing House, 385 pp. (In Russian).

Tsuchiya, K. 2000. Illustrated book of the Enoploteuthidae. In: Okutani T., ed. True face of Watasenia scintillans. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, p 196–269. (in Japanese)

Voss, G.L. 1955. The Cephalopoda Obtained by the Harvard-Havana Expedition off the Coast of Cuba in 1938-39. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 5(2):81-115.