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

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 present on the

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 f ...

eyeball Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...

s and

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 ma ...

s. They inhabit tropical and subtropical seas where the diel migrants which stay down in the

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 ...

zone during the day and migrate to the surface to feed at night. Some species show strong

sexual dimorphism 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 an ...

Species

Subfamily Lampadioteuthinae *Genus '' Lampadioteuthis'' **'' Lampadioteuthis megaleia'' Subfamily Lycoteuthinae *Genus '' Lycoteuthis'' **'' Lycoteuthis lorigera'' **'' Lycoteuthis springeri'' *Genus '' Nematolampas'' **'' Nematolampas regalis'' **'' Nematolampas venezuelensis'' *Genus '' Selenoteuthis'' **'' Selenoteuthis scintillans''

References

External links

Squid Cephalopod families {{squid-stub