Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis gen. et sp. nov. (Mollusca, Cephalopoda): an octopod from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent site
González, Á.F.; Guerra, Á.; Pascual, S.; Briand, P. (1998). Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis gen. et sp. nov. (Mollusca, Cephalopoda): an octopod from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent site. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39(2): 169-184
In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine. Station Biologique de Roscoff: Paris. ISSN 0007-9723; e-ISSN 2262-3094, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- González, Á.F.
- Guerra, Á., more
- Pascual, S.
- Briand, P.
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| Abstract |
We describe two specimens of an octopod from a hydrothermal vent of the East Pacific Rise (13 degree N, 2640 m) collected during the French cruise HOT 96 (CNRS/IFREMER). They are two males, one immature and one mature. The diagnosis of this new genus is as follows: Benthic animals with a muscular and semi-translucent body; lack of any type of chromatic elements in the skin; eye with no trace of an iris; presence of a large white body covering the eye-ball, the optic nerves and the optic lobe; digestive gland multilobulate; presence of a black bulb, here called dark swelling, in proximal third of the intestine; presence of a crop and absence of an ink sac. The species Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis is a small benthic animal up to 35 mm mantle length. The posterior part of the mantle is mitre-like. Arms 2.5-4 times the length of the mantle. Right arm III hectocotylized. Ligula short (9.5 % of the hectocotylized arm), lance-shaped and without transverse ridges. Calamus short (17.9 % of the ligula length). In adult males enlarged suckers absent, and the diameter of the largest sucker is about 6 % of the mantle length. Depth of the largest sector of the web about 4.8 % of the longest arm. Gills with eight lamellae per demibranch. The possibility of justifying the raising of a new sub-familial status (Vulcanoctopodinae) of Octopodidae, ecology and adaptations of these vent animals are discussed. |
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