''Lycoteuthis springeri'' is a small species of rarely captured

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 ...

from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Lycoteuthidae The Lycoteuthidae are a family of squid comprising three known genera. They are small muscular squid, characterised by a lack of hooks and by photophores present on the viscera, eyeballs and tentacles. They inhabit tropical and subtropical seas w ...

. It has three photophores on the posterior portion of the abdomen and the males have a long tail which bears seven deeply embedded long and thin photophores. The males also have photophores on

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

II and III, as well as on the head and the mantle. The

tentacular club All cephalopods possess flexible limbs extending from their heads and surrounding their cephalopod beak, beaks. These appendages, which function as muscular hydrostats, have been variously termed arms, legs or tentacles. Description In ...

s and the structure of the suckers on the club and arm are not distinctive. Two of the known specimens were males which had mantle lengths of 80mm and 97mm. The type locality was in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

and 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 ...

was found in the stomach of a shark which was captured at 367m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2760626 Lycoteuthidae Cephalopods described in 1956