Vampyromorphida is an
order of
cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...
s comprising one known
extant
Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...
species (''
Vampyroteuthis infernalis
The vampire squid (''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', lit. 'vampire squid from hell') is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in extreme deep sea conditions. The vampire squid uses its bioluminescent organs and its uni ...
'') and many
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
. Physically, they somewhat resemble
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
es (their closest relatives), but the eight arms are united by a web of skin, and two smaller cilia are also present.
Properly speaking, the vampire squid does not possess cilia, but cirri (cilia-like projections).
Classification
*Order Vampyromorphida
**Suborder †
Kelaenina
***Family †
Muensterellidae
Muensterellidae is a family of stem- octopod cephalopods from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.
Phylogeny
Muensterellidae is one of two families in the superfamily Muensterelloidea along with the Patelloctopodidae. The muensterelloids are ...
**Suborder †
Prototeuthina
***Family †
Loligosepiidae
***Family †
Geopeltididae
***Family †
Lioteuthididae
***Family †
Mastigophoridae
**Suborder †
Mesoteuthina
***Family †
Palaeololiginidae
****Subfamily †
Teudopseinae
****Subfamily †
Palaeololigininae
**Suborder
Vampyromorphina
***Family
Vampyroteuthidae
Vampyroteuthidae is a family of vampyromorph cephalopods containing the extant vampire squid, ''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', and the extinct genera '' Necroteuthis'', '' Provampyroteuthis'', and ''Vampyronassa
''Vampyronassa rhodanica'' ("vam ...
The following taxa were long considered to belong to Vampyromorphida, but this placement may be incorrect:
[Fischer, Jean-Claude & Riou, Bernard (2002): ''Vampyronassa rhodanica'' nov. gen. nov sp., vampyromorphe (Cephalopoda, Coleoidea) du Callovien inférieur de la Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France). ''Annales de Paléontologie'' 88(1) 1−17. rench with English abstract (HTML abstract)]
*Family †
Plesioteuthididae
Plesioteuthididae is an extinct family 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 a ...
*Family †
Leptotheuthididae
*Family †
Trachyteuthididae
**Subfamily †
Trachyteuthidinae
**Subfamily †
Actinosepiinae
References
The Taxonomicon: Order Vampyromorphida
Octopodiformes
Cephalopod orders
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