Onychoteuthis lacrima

This species is one of several in the Onychoteuthis banksii complex from Hawaiian waters.  Seki (unpublished) recognized species D as distinct from the others based on the oval-shaped posterior intestinal photophore; all other forms in the Onychoteuthis banksii complex have circular intestinal photophores. 

Diagnosis

An Onychoteuthis species...

  • with one oval posterior and one circular anterior intestinal photophore.
  • with tentacle club length 25-30% ML.
  • with large, oro-lateral-directed spikes on the distal ventral hooks.
  • without chromatophores along the ventral ridge on the oral surface of the tentacle stalk.
  • with chromatophores on all portions of the mantle ventrally (no 'bald spot').
  • with fleshy knobs on the distal margin of the arm suckers. 

Tentacle club

  1. Length ~29% ML, with 20–24 long, robust, strongly recurved hooks.
  2. Bases of hooks V7 or V8 through distal-most produced into pronounced ventral spike.

Photophores

  1. Posterior intestinal photophore circular, well defined; anterior photophore oval to tear-drop-shaped, ill defined, minute to indiscernible. 
  2. Ocular photophore a long whitish patch on ventral surface of each eyeball.

Measurements of holotype

    1. Mantle length - 94 mm
    2. Arm lengths - 33-45 mm
    3. Fin length - 55 mm
    4. Fin width - 63 mm
    5. Club length - 30 mm (right)
    6. Club hook numbers - 22
    7. Largest hooks - Hooks V6-V8

 

Onychoteuthis lacrima. © K.S. Bolstad

Bolstad, K.S. 2008. Two new species and a review of the squid genus Onychoteuthis Lichtenstein, 1818 (Oegopsida: Onychoteuthidae) from the Pacific Ocean. Bulletin of Marine Science, 83: 481–529.

 

Seki, M.P. 2001. Distribution patterns of pelagic cephalopods through the Subarctic and Subtropical Frontal Zones in the central North Pacific. Thesis (MSc), University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii: 102 pp.