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''Vampyronassa rhodanica'' ("vampire fish trap") is an extinct vampyromorph cephalopod known from around 20 fossils from the Lower Callovian (165–164 Ma) of
''Vampyronassa'' reached total length about . This taxon differs from the modern
Although modern vampire squid is deep-sea opportunistic detritivore and zooplanktivore, ''Vampyronassa'' is estimated to be an active
La Voulte-sur-Rhône
La Voulte-sur-Rhône (, literally ''La Voulte on Rhône''; oc, La Vòuta) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
Population
Lagerstätte
La Voulte-sur-Rhône is a marine Lagerstätte (sedimentary deposit) located in F ...
, Ardèche, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Morphology
''Vampyronassa'' reached total length about . This taxon differs from the modern vampire squid
The vampire squid (''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', lit. 'vampire squid from hell') is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in #Habitat and adaptations, extreme deep sea conditions. The vampire squid uses its Biolumines ...
in having longer first dorsal arms, a larger hyponome
A siphon is an anatomical structure which is part of the body of aquatic molluscs in three Class (biology), classes: Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Cephalopoda (members of these classes include saltwater and freshwater snails, clams, octopus, squid and ...
, and a more elongated mantle. Original description described possible luminous organs, however in restudy they could not be confirmed. It had eight arms with uniserial suckers flanked by cirri, same as modern vampire squid. Retractile filaments that is known from modern vampire squid is not known in ''Vampyronassa''. Like vampire squid, ''Vampyronassa'' lacked of ink sac
An ink sac is an anatomical feature that is found in many cephalopod mollusks used to produce the defensive cephalopod ink. With the exception of nocturnal and very deep water cephalopods, all Coleoidea (squid, octopus and cuttlefish) which dwell ...
.
Classification
''Vampyronassa'' shares some characters with modern vampire squid ''Vampyroteuthis'', such as lack of ink sac and unique type of sucker attachment. Analysis supports the sister relationship between ''Vampyronassa'' and ''Vampyroteuthis''.Palaeoecology
Although modern vampire squid is deep-sea opportunistic detritivore and zooplanktivore, ''Vampyronassa'' is estimated to be an active predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
following a pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...
mode of life according to characters of its arms. Considering Oligocene vampyromorph '' Necroteuthis'' probably had deep-sea mode of life, initial shift of vampiromophs to offshore environments was possibly driven by onshore competition.
References