Histioteuthis

Histioteuthis
A member of the genus Histioteuthis. Eye asymmetry is observable.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Oegopsida
Family: Histioteuthidae
Genus: Histioteuthis
Orbigny, 1841[1]
Type species
Cranchia bonnellii
Férussac, 1834
Species

17 species and subspecies, see text

Synonyms[1]
Beak of Histioteuthis bonnellii

Histioteuthis is a genus of squid in the family Histioteuthidae. It goes by the common name cock-eyed squid, because in all species the right eye is normal-sized, round, blue and sunken; whereas the left eye is at least twice the diameter of the right eye, tubular, yellow-green, faces upward, and bulges out of the head.

In 2017, researchers at Duke University established that Histioteuthis uses its larger eye to see ambient sunlight, and its smaller eye to detect bioluminescence from prey animals.[2]

The name is composed of the Greek histion (ἱστίον, "sail", a large webbed membrane between six of the arms, in some species) and teuthis ("squid").[3][4]

The genus contains bioluminescent species.[5]

Species

References

  1. ^ a b Julian Finn (2016). "Histioteuthis d'Orbigny [in Férussac & d'Orbigny], 1841". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  2. ^ Mismatched Eyes Help Squid Survive Ocean’s Twilight Zone, at Duke University; by Kara Manke; published February 13, 2017; retrieved June 25, 2017
  3. ^ Catlow, Agnes (1854). Popular Conchology. Longman. p. 364. Histioteuthis, sail, and cuttlefish
  4. ^ Chun, Carl (1975). The Cephalopoda. Israel Program for Scientific Translations. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-7065-1259-5. Histioteuthis is characterized by such a large membrane ("sail") [...] This "sail" is a strong, muscular cutaneous membrane which surrounds the 1st, 2nd and 3rd arms
  5. ^ Herring, Peter J. (1987). "Systematic distribution of bioluminescence in living organisms". Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence. 1 (3): 147–163. doi:10.1002/bio.1170010303. PMID 3503524.


Stub icon

This squid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.