Turquet's Octopus

Turquet's Octopus
Turquet's Octopus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Octopodidae
Genus: Pareledone
Species: P. turqueti
Binomial name
Pareledone turqueti
(Joubin, 1905)
Synonyms
  • Eledone turqueti
    Joubin, 1905
  • Moschites turqueti
    Massy, 1916
  • Graneledone turqueti
    Joubin, 1924

Turquet's Octopus (Pareledone turqueti) is a species of benthic octopus with a circumpolar Antarctic distribution. The species has a wide depth range, occurring from shallow waters to 4,000 m deep.[1]

P. turqueti grows to 15 cm in mantle length.[2] It is characterised by the absence of a skin ridge round the body, and its nearly smooth skin, which is covered with low granular bumps.[1]

In the wild, P. turqueti is known to be preyed upon by Patagonian toothfish off South Georgia (53-54ºS, 35º45'-43º25'W)[3] and Weddell Seals off the South Shetland Islands.[4]

The type specimen was collected in the Antarctic Ocean (65°S, 64°W) and is deposited at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Norman, M.D. 2000. Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks.
  2. ^ CephBase: Mantle Length of Pareledone turqueti
  3. ^ Xavier, J.C., P.G. Rodhouse, M.G. Purves, T.M. Daw, J. Arata & G.M. Pilling 2002. Distribution of cephalopods recorded in the diet of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) around South Georgia.PDF (159 KiB) Polar Biology 25: 323-330.
  4. ^ Klages, N.T.W. 1996. Cephalopods as prey. II. Seals.PDF (1.60 MiB) Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 351: 1045-1052.
  5. ^ Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda

External links

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