''Abralia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

comprising around 20 species from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Enoploteuthidae The Enoploteuthidea are a family of squid comprising approximately 40 species in four genera. Most species have a mantle length ranging from 3–13 cm. Hooks are present on all arms and tentacles. The family is best known for the large arr ...

. They are small squid which can be found in the

epipelagic The photic zone, euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis. It undergoes a series of physical, chemical, and biological proc ...

mesopelagic The mesopelagic zone (Greek μέσον, middle), also known as the middle pelagic or twilight zone, is the part of the pelagic zone that lies between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones. It is defined by light, and begins ...

zones while some species are found in water with shallow substrates on steep slopes on the boundary of the mesopelagic zone. They are distinguished from other members of the Enoploteuthidae by not normally having large, black

photophore A photophore is a glandular organ that appears as luminous spots on various marine animals, including fish and cephalopods. The organ can be simple, or as complex as the human eye; equipped with lenses, shutters, color filters and reflectors, ...

s at the tips of arms IV, although if these are present they are not covered in black chromatophores, and having fins which extend beyond their tail. The photophores of the

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, shell, germ or rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or ...

are characteristicand are found in the three types . "Lensed" photophores are a blue color with a white ring, "simple" photophores are small and violet-colored and the "complex" photophores are surrounded by small green satellite points and have a green centre. The complex photophores will frequently appear to be blue depending on their physiological state. The integument also has small black

chromatophore Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are Biological pigment, pigment-containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and ...

s which look like dots. They have 5-12 variably sized photophores on the eye. Either the right or left arm IV is hectocotylized. ''Abralia'' is the most speciose genus in the Enoploteuthidae and is normally divided in to six

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

, however, recent studies suggest that these may not form natural groupings. They have worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical seas. They spend the day at depths below 600m and at night they move to less than 200m in depth. These quid are important prey species for large fish such as

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

and

billfish The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophor ...

as well as

toothed whales The toothed whales (also called odontocetes, systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of t ...

Species

The following species are currently recognised and are divided into six subgenera: *Subgenus ''

Abralia ''Abralia'' is a genus of squid comprising around 20 species from the Family (biology), family Enoploteuthidae. They are small squid which can be found in the epipelagic to mesopelagic zones while some species are found in water with shallow sub ...

'' Gray, 1849 **'' Abralia armata'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) **''

Abralia multihamata ''Abralia multihamata'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod native to the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Specifically, it occurs in the East China Sea, Sea of Japan and Sagami Bay. The taxonomic relationship between ''A. multihamata'' and '' A. s ...

Sasaki Sasaki () is the 13th most common Japanese surname. Less common variants are 佐咲, 佐佐木 and 笹木. Notable people with the surname include: Overview *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese alpine skier *, Japanese idol and singer *, Japane ...

, 1929 **''

Abralia renschi ''Abralia renschi'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod found in the waters of Sumatra, Java and the Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެ� ...

'' Grimpe, 1931 **''

Abralia spaercki ''Abralia spaercki'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod that has been found in the waters off northern Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Its taxonomic relationship with '' A. multihamata'' still needs to be determined. It inhabits ...

'' Grimpe, 1931 **'' Abralia steindachneri'' Weindl, 1912 *Subgenus '' Asteroteuthis''

Pfeffer Pfeffer is a German surname meaning "pepper" and may refer to: * Anna Pfeffer (born 1946), Hungarian Olympic medalist sprint canoer * Anshel Pfeffer, British journalist * Anton Pfeffer (born 1965), Austrian footballer * Big Jeff Pfeffer (1882� ...

, 1908 **''

Abralia veranyi ''Abralia veranyi'' is a species of squid in the family Enoploteuthidae. Common names include the eye-flash squid, Verany's enope squid and the midwater squid. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It undergoes a daily ver ...

'' Rüppell, 1844, eye-flash squid or Verany's enope squid *Subgenus '' Astrabralia'' Nesis, 1987 **'' Abralia astrolineata''

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

, 1914 **'' Abralia astrosticta'' Berry, 1909 *Subgenus '' Enigmoteuthis''

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, 1973 **''

Abralia dubia ''Abralia dubia'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod known from the Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟ ...

'' Adam, 1960 **'' Abralia fasciolata'' Tsuchiya, 1991 **'' Abralia marisarabica'' Okutani, 1983 *Subgenus '' Heterabralia'' Tsuchiya & Okutani, 1988 **'' Abralia andamanica'' Goodrich, 1896 **'' Abralia heminuchalis'' Burgess, 1992 **''

Abralia robsoni ''Abralia robsoni'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod found in the waters of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bo ...

'' Grimpe, 1931 **''

Abralia siedleckyi ''Abralia siedleckyi'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod known from its type locality in the waters off South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded ...

'' Lipinski, 1983 **'' Abralia trigonura'' Berry, 1913 *Subgenus '' Pygmabralia'' Nesis, 1987 **'' Abralia grimpei''

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Opphe ...

, 1959 **''

Abralia omiae ''Abralia omiae'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod known only from its type locality, the Dimitry Mendeleyev seamount (5˚N, 155˚E) in the Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisio ...

'' Hidaka & Kubodera, 2000Hidaka, K. and T. Kubodera. (2000)
Squids of the genus ''Abralia'' (Cephalopoda: Enoploteuthidae) from the western tropical Pacific with a description of ''Abralia omiae'', a new species.
''Bulletin of Marine Science'' 66(2) 417-43. **''

Abralia redfieldi ''Abralia redfieldi'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod ranging across the Atlantic Ocean from the waters of Nova Scotia to Argentina in the west, to the waters of western Africa south to South Africa in the east. It has been caught at de ...

'' Voss, 1955 **''

Abralia similis ''Abralia similis'' is a species of enoploteuthid cephalopod that occurs in equatorial and subtropical Pacific Ocean waters south of the Kuroshio Current, and is known from the waters of Papua New Guinea, Japan, Kiribati and Tonga. This species ...

'' Okutani & Tsuchiya, 1987

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3203049 Cephalopod genera Bioluminescent molluscs Taxa named by John Edward Gray