Alloteuthis media

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Alloteuthis media

Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Myopsida
Family: Loliginidae
Genus: Alloteuthis
Species:
A. media
Binomial name
Alloteuthis media
(Linnaeus, 1758)[2]
Synonyms[2]
  • Alloteuthis medius (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Loligo marmorae Vérany, 1839
  • Loligo parva Froriep, 1806)
  • Loligo urceolata Risso, 1854
  • Loligo urceolatus Risso, 1854
  • Sepia media Linnaeus, 1758

Alloteuthis media, the midsize squid or little squid, is a species of squid in the family Loliginidae from the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.[1][3] It is generally a by-catch species in trawl fisheries, although there is an active fishery in the western Mediterranean.[1]

Description

Alloteuthis media is hard to tell apart from

tentacular club is broad and the diameter of the largest of the suckers in the club is 9–14 % of the width of head. The pairs of suckers in the centre of the club are attached at almost right angles to the axis of the club.[5] In males the hectocotylus is on the Left ventral arm which typically has 11 normal suckers in a ventral row (plus or minus 1), with papillae towards the tip.[6] Sexual maturity is reached in females when they attain about 95mm in length and 55mm in males.[4]

Distribution

Alloteuthis media occurs in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, reported as having a southern limit at Cape Blanc,[5] around 20°N, and a northern one at 60°N in the eastern Atlantic. It is rare in the North Sea with records from the Irish Sea and English Channel on the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. More recently it has not been recorded north of the Iberian Peninsula In the Mediterranean Sea it is widespread and its distribution includes the Sea of Marmara.[6]

Biology

Alloteuthis media is found over occurs on sandy and muddy substrates and prefers waters between 0 and 200m in depth in coastal areas and over the

Loligo vulgaris, but less robust and transparent rather than opaque.[6] The egg clusters, each containing up to 1400 eggs,[4] are adhered to hard objects on the sea bed such as shells, corals and stones). Alloteuthis media is a predator which uses crustaceans, molluscs and small fishes as prey. Their life cycle is estimated to be around a year for males and eighteen months for females.[6]

Taxonomy

Recent molecular analyses suggest that Alloteuthis media and A. subulata may be conspecific and that they are the extreme ends of a morphological gradient.

Jean Baptiste Lamarck's A. subulata which dates from 1798.[2] However, further analyses suggest that these are indeed two sister species which can be reliably separated by the size of the central suckers of the tentacular club and that in fact there is a genetic divergence between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean populations of A. media.[6]

Fisheries

Alloteuthis media is normally a bycatch in trawl fisheries for other species but it is marketed throughout most of the Mediterranean with other Alloteuthis species. In the western Mediterranean it is actively fished for in a trawl fishery and in the winter it is captured at depths of 150m to 200m and from between 50m and 150m in spring, summer and autumn. Its seasonal abundance varies widely, but there is little annual variation. Commercial interest in this species varies according to location and the catch is marketed in both fresh and frozen forms.[6]

References

  1. ^ . Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2022). "Alloteuthis media (Linnaeus, 1758)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, E. (1999). Tyler-Walters H.; Hiscock K. (eds.). "Little squid (Alloteuthis media)". Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN). The Marine Biological Association of the UK. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Vecchione, Michael; Richard E. Young (2010). "Alloteuthis media (Linnaeus 1758) Midsize squid". The Tree of Life Web Project. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  5. ^ a b M.J. de Kluijver; S.S. Ingalsuo; R.H. de Bruyne. "Alloteuthis media". Mollusca of the North Sea. ETI Bioinformatics: Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  6. ^ .