''Octopoteuthis deletron'' is a species of

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 ...

in the genus '' Octopoteuthis'' of 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 ...

Octopoteuthidae. They belong to the

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

squids of

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

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 ...

. Found at depths of in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, they have been known to grow to .

Biology

Trophic ecology

This species is described as an inactive predator, having a lower

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

and relying on

ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...

, though members of this genus are higher in

trophic level The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web. Within a food web, a food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten themselves. The trophic level of an organism is the ...

than glass squids and active hunters like ''

Todaropsis eblanae ''Todaropsis'' is a species of short finned squid in the family Ommastrephidae. It is the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Todaropsinae. The genus ''Todaropsis'' is also monotypic, containing the single species ''Todaropsis eblanae'', also k ...

''. ''O. deletron'' has been found to break off its arms as a defense strategy. The squid digs hooks in one of its arms into a predator and jets away, leaving the arm in the predator's skin. ''O. deletron'' are the most common species found in the stomachs of

northern elephant seal The northern elephant seal (''Mirounga angustirostris'') is one of two species of elephant seal (the other is the southern elephant seal). It is a member of the family Phocidae (true seals). Elephant seals derive their name from their great s ...

s sampled off the coast of California. It is an important prey item of the giant grenadier. It is also eaten by the enigmatic Perrin's beaked whale (''Mesoplodon perrini'').

Reproduction

The male ''O. deletron'' has a

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

, which is unusual among squids. Males find it difficult to detect the sex of other individuals they encounter in the dark depths, so they have adopted a strategy of attaching sperm packets to all individuals they meet. This behavior has earned it the

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

squid".

References

External links

* Octopoteuthidae Cephalopods of Oceania Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Cephalopods described in 1972 {{Squid-stub