''Australiteuthis aldrichi'' is a small

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

found in northern Australian waters. The species was described by Chung Cheng Lu in 2005 based on specimens collected in the inshore waters of

Northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...

. The largest known individual of this species is a mature female measuring in mantle length (ML). The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is a mature male of ML. A live specimen of ''A. aldrichi'' has yet to be recorded. ''A. aldrichi'' is a member of the class

Cephalopoda 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, ...

and part of the subclass

Coleoidea Coleoidea or Dibranchiata is one of the two subclasses of cephalopod molluscs containing all the various taxa popularly thought of as "soft-bodied" or "shell-less" (i.e. octopus, squid and cuttlefish). Unlike its extant sister group Nauti ...

. Within this class there are two orders, the

Myopsida Myopsida is one of the four orders of squid. It consists of two families: the monotypic '' Australiteuthis'' and the diverse and commercially important Loliginidae (~50 species). Some taxonomists classify this taxon as a suborder of the order T ...

and the

Oegopsida Oegopsida is one of the four orders of squid in the superorder Decapodiformes, in the class Cephalopoda. Together with the Myopsina, it was formerly considered to be a suborder of the order Teuthida, in which case it was known as Oegopsina. Thi ...

, which both fall under the superorder

Decapodiformes Decapodiformes is a superorder of Cephalopoda comprising all cephalopod species with ten limbs, specifically eight short arms and two long tentacles. It is hypothesized that the ancestral coleoid had five identical pairs of limbs, and that one ...

. ''A. aldrichi'' falls under the order of Myopsida, and is the only member of its

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, ''Australiteuthis,'' and the family, Australiteuthidae.

Order

The Myopsida order is made up of two families, the ''Australiteuthidae'' and ''Loliginidae.'' The squid which fall under the order of Myopsida are nertic squid that typically dwell in shallow waters and appear in large schools. Within the family of ''Loliginidae'', species such as the '' Loligo forbesii'', also known as the veined and long-finned squid, may reach sizes up to in mantle length.Vecchione, Michael and Richard E. Young. 2016. Myopsida Naef, 1916. Version 29 August 2016. http://tolweb.org/Myopsida/52670/2016.08.29 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org ''A. aldrichi'', however, are much more similar in size to members of the genus Pickfordiateuthis,{Vecchione, Michael. 2008. Pickfordiateuthis Voss, 1953. Grass squid. Version 04 March 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pickfordiateuthis/19861/2008.03.04 more commonly known as dwarf squid, as males of the ''A. aldrichi'' species have been observed to reach in mantle length at a fully mature state.

Characteristics of Myopsida

Members of the Myopsida order exhibit the following characteristics: # Arms and tentacles that contain circular muscles. # Tentacles that are clubbed without a proximal locking-apparatus. # The head contains tentacle pockets. # The eyes contain a corneal membrane covering lens instead of a secondary eyelid. # A funnel that does not contain adductor muscles. # A mantle which contains a mantle locking apparatus. # A shell underneath the mantle. # Viscera and gills with a branchial canal. # Eggs that contain a large external yolk sac.

Habitat

Documented locations of Australiteuthis in Australia

Specimens of ''A. aldrich'' have been found in the

Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806–1808) and then Spain (18 ...

of Western Australia, the inshore waters of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia as well as the

Gulf of Papua The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow ...

in New Guinea. (PNG). It has been theorized that the species may live along the coastal regions in Australia and Papua New Guinea.Jereb, P., Roper, C.F.E. & Vecchione, M. (2010). Family Australiteuthidae. P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 2. Rome, FAO. pp. 35-37. http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i1920e/i1920e.pdf The species has never been found alive and is only known from a handful of specimens collected in these areas. These ''A. aldrichi'' specimens were collected at depths between to by fishermen using beam trawls. It has also been speculated that the species may be a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

squid but it is not yet truly known.

Biology

''A. aldrichi'' have been found at depths ranging from to and are speculated to live within the benthic zone. From the specimens collected, mature males may have a mantle length of and mature females may have a mantle length of over .http://tolweb.org/Australiteuthis_aldrichi/52671/2005.09.20 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/ The species has large, separate, round fins with free anterior and posterior lobes as well as a large dumbbell-shaped photophore. Other biological features of the species include a deep tentacular pocket, tricuspid rachidial teeth, a lack of aquiferous pores in the cornea, eyes covered with a transparent cornea, and a photophore on the ink sac. The species is classified in the order Myopsida because of its shared characteristic of a corneal membrane.

References

External links

Tree of Life web project: ''Australiteuthis aldrichi''''Australiteuthis aldrichi'': Description continued
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2182667 Myopsida Monotypic cephalopod genera Cephalopods of Australia