''Nematolampas regalis'', the regal firefly squid is a small, little-known species of

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 ...

from the family

Lycoteuthidae The Lycoteuthidae are a family of squid comprising four known genera in two subfamilies. They are small muscular squid characterised by a lack of hooks and by photophores present on the viscera, eyeballs and tentacles. They inhabit tropical an ...

which is found in the subtropical South Pacific Ocean. This squid has a mantle length of 30mm. It may be

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, with the males possibly having very thin elongated

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

III, which are increasingly thread like towards their tips, where they do not have any suckers. Arms II are "normal" and have suckers along their length. The third arms have a series of

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 along their length, and there is a small photophore located on each of the tips of arms I and II. The

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s have two embedded photophores and the largest of the eye's photophores is in the centre. There is a pair of large photophores close to the tip of the mantle on the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

side mantle, with no other photophores on the body except for a

viscera In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a ...

l photophore which is also near the tip. There is practically no tail. ''N. regalis'' is known only from the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total are ...

near New Zealand; one of the specimens was beached while the other two were caught by a trawl at a depth of 48m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3201042 Squid Molluscs described in 1913