Note

Opisthoteuthis pluto: Description Continued

Richard E. Young and Michael Vecchione
  1. Eyes
    1. "Moderately large."

  2. Funnel
    1. Long and narrow; funnel organ with a pair of well-separated oblique oval pads.
    2. Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Funnel of O. pluto laid open to show funnel organ.  Drawing from Berry (1918).

  3. Fins
    1. "...large, flabby, oblong, about twice as broad as long."
  4. Gills
    1. Gills with 8 primary lamellae.

  5. Optic lobes and nerves
    1. Unknown

  6. Digestive system
    1. Digestive gland bilobed (O'Shea, 1999).

  7. Beaks
    1. Beaks illustrated but not described.
    2. Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Lateral view of lower (left) and upper (right) beaks of O. pluto. Drawings from Berry (1918).

  8. Shell
    1. Broadly U-shaped.
    2. Saddle with groove along posterior surface.
    3. Wings with a vertical thickening, then rapidly tapering, outer surface slightly excavated at point of expansion.
    4. Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Dorsal (bottom) view of the shell and oblique view of the shell wing (top) of O. pluto.  Drawings from Berry (1918).

  9. Pigmentation
    1. Upper surfaces with chocolate and dark slate gray.
    2. Oral surface of web dark chocolate brown, paler toward mouth and periphery.
    3. Suckers and cirri light brown.
    4. Oral surface of arms same color as web.
    5. Areolar spots present (drawings on right): generally appear with small, sharply defined nucleus surrounded by a narrow zone of dark chocolate then a wider paler region which is succeeded by a poorly defined zone of bluish slate.
    6. Arrangement of areolae uncertain: absent from body; a series beginning between eyes extends along each arm I; similar but less numerous series extend along other arms.
    7. Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
      Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

      Figure. Areolae of O. pluto. Left - areola in contracted state from a medium-sized octopod. Right - areola in expanded state, same animal. Scale bar is 5 mm. Drawings from Berry (1918).

  10. Measurements and counts
    Sex ? Holotype ? ? Paratype ?
    Spread (arm tip to arm tip) 540 350 275 195
    Fin span, mm 210 115 115 70
    Fin length 60 30 20 10
    Fin width 30 15 10 5
    Head width 100 70 75 30
    Arm I, length (right/left) 260/260 160/160 145/145 85/85
    Arm II, length 250/250 155/155 150/140 85/85
    Arm III, length 270/245 170/145 140/145 90/90
    Arm IV, length 245/250 160/160 115+/130 85/90
    Diam. sucker no. 5, arm I 7 4 3.5 2
    Depth web sector A 170 105 95 60
    Depth web sector C 145 95 100 55
    Depth web sector E 140 100 80 55
    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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