Grimpoteuthis abyssicola

Grimpoteuthis abyssicola, commonly known as the red jellyhead,[3] is a species of small deep-sea octopus known from two specimens. The holotype specimen was a female collected on the Lord Howe Rise (central Tasman Sea off New Zealand), between 3154 and 3180 meters depth.[4][5][2] A second specimen (a male) was collected on the continental slope of south-eastern Australia between 2821 and 2687 m depth.[6] While the organism has not been formally assigned a vernacular name, it has been proposed to be referred to commonly as the angle-shelled dumbo octopus.[6]

Grimpoteuthis abyssicola
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Grimpoteuthidae
Genus: Grimpoteuthis
Species:
G. abyssicola
Binomial name
Grimpoteuthis abyssicola
O'Shea, 1999 [2]

The octopus has very delicate tissues, making it susceptible to damage by trawling nets. The arms and web are a deep maroon colour, while the body and head are nearly transparent.[3]

The female type specimen had a mantle about 75 millimeters long, while its total body reached 305 millimeters long (the male specimen had a longer mantle length at 99 mm, but a shorter total length of 245 mm).[4][6] G. abyssicola's internal shell is U-shaped, lacking any lateral prominences/shoulders, and with the ends of shell rounded, this shell shape is distinctive from other Grimpoteuthis (with the possible exception of Grimpoteuthis hippocrepium).[6][5] This species can also be distinguished from other members of Grimpoteuthis due to the absence of both a radula and posterior salivary glands, how many suckers it has (up to 74 or 77 per arm on the known specimens), and where the arm cirri commence.[5][6] On the holotype the first 6-8 suckers on each arm are small, then larger up to sucker 30-35, followed this are a further 30-35 suckers rapidly decreasing in size to the arm tip.[4][5]

Present records of this species are too few to assess its conservation status (but it is likely not threatened given its abyssal distribution).[1]

References
  1. Lyons, G.; Allcock, L. (2014). "Grimpoteuthis abyssicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T163330A999070. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T163330A999070.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Bouchet, Philippe; van der Land, Jacob. "Grimpoteuthis abyssicola". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. O'Shea, Steve (March 9, 2019). "Deep-sea finned Octopoda of New Zealand". Octopus News Magazine. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020.
  4. O'Shea, Steve (1999). "The marine fauna of New Zealand: Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda)". NIWA Biodiversity Memoir. 112: 1–280.
  5. O'Shea, Steve; Young, Richard. "Grimpoteuthis abyssicola". Tree of Life Web Project. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  6. Verhoeff, Tristan Joseph; O’Shea, Steve (2022-01-02). "New records and two new species of Grimpoteuthis (Octopoda: Cirrata: Grimpoteuthididae) from southern Australia and New Zealand". Molluscan Research. 42 (1): 4–30. doi:10.1080/13235818.2022.2035889. ISSN 1323-5818. S2CID 247020706.
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