''Bathyteuthis'' is the singular

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of squid in the family Bathyteuthidae, encompassing three species. ''Bathyteuthis'' species are found scattered throughout the world’s oceans at

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 at ...

to bathypelagic depths, commonly between 700 and 2,000 meters. They are found in deep-sea territories and can be spotted on the coast of New England. The genus contains bioluminescent species.

Description

''Bathyteuthis'' are deep reddish maroon in colour and small in size, with none exceeding 80 mm in mantle length. The arms on ''Bathyteuthis'' are short, joined by a low, fleshy web, with suckers arranged in irregular rows (two proximally increasing to four distally). Tentacular clubs are short and narrow, with 8-10 longitudinal series of numerous, minute suckers. Buccal connectives have small suckers attached to the dorsal border of the ventral arms (arms IV). Fins are small, round and separate. The head has eyes turned slightly to the front. Suckers lack circularis muscles. Females have paired

oviduct The oviduct in mammals, is the passageway from an ovary. In human females this is more usually known as the Fallopian tube or uterine tube. The eggs travel along the oviduct. These eggs will either be fertilized by spermatozoa to become a zygote, o ...

Reproduction

While the reproduction of many deep-sea squids is poorly known, one ''Bathyteuthis'' species, ''B. berryi'', is known to brood its eggs after spawning. It lays relatively few eggs but these eggs are large, protected from predators and parasites, and develop and hatch at a depth decided by the parent.

Taxonomy

''Bathyteuthis'' shares some characters with oegopsid squid and others with the

Myopsida Myopsida is one of the four orders of squid. It consists of two families: the monotypic '' Australiteuthis'' and the diverse and commercially important Loliginidae (~50 species). Some taxonomists classify this taxon as a suborder of the order ...

, hence its placement in a separate suborder, the Bathyteuthoidea, by some authorities. The paired oviducts (in females) and suckers without circularis muscles are characteristic of ordinary Oegopsida. However, buccal connective tissue with suckers and tentacle pockets in the head are characters found in myopsid squid, but absent in the Oegopsida.

Species

*'' Bathyteuthis abyssicola'', deepsea squid *'' Bathyteuthis bacidifera'' *'' Bathyteuthis berryi''

References

* tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ac479e/AC479E26.pdf FAO Bathyteuthidae

External links

Squid Bioluminescent molluscs Taxa named by William Evans Hoyle {{squid-stub