Uroteuthis duvauceli

Scientific Name:-

Uroteuthis duvauceli

Common Name:-

Indian squid

Malayalam Name:-

Koonthal/Ola kanava

Category:-

Mollusca

Status:-

Not evaluated

Description:-

Fresh specimens whitish, numerous light brown chromatophores scattered all over the body, which are denser on dorsal surface. Mantle moderately long, slender, cylindrical, tapering from middle and blunt posterior end. Mid-dorsal projection of the anterior margin of the mantle rounded. Fins rhombic, broad. Head small, broad. A strong pit-like excavation present on the ventral side in between the eye lobes to accommodate the free end of the funnel. Eyes large and prominent. Buccal membrane with 7 buccal lappets, each lappet bears 5 small suckers. Arms moderately long, arm formula III>II>IV>I, third pair broadest. Arm suckers biserial, similar in size; chitinous rings of the arm suckers with 5 to 6 teeth in the distal margin; proximal margin smooth, without dentition. Left ventral arm hectocotylized in males, about half the distance of the arm with 14–20 pairs of normal suckers; two rows of fleshy papillae occur distal to the normal suckers. Papillae in the ventral row are larger than the dorsal row. The proximal papillae bear minute suckers on the tip and the distal papillae are devoid of suckers. Tentacles long and slender with large. Club suckers quadriserial, median row suckers slightly larger than lateral rows. Sucker rings of tentacles with 20–22 acute, conical, regularly spaced teeth around the entire margin. Gladius narrow, brownish.

Threats:-

Not recorded

Remark:-

Uroteuthis duvauceli is one of the most common species among the Indo-Pacific loliginids. Detailed study on the biology of this species from Indian coast was done by Silas (1985).

Habitat:-

Neritic species ranging from 15–170 m depth.

Synonyms:-

Loligo duvaucelii D’Orbigny, 1835; Loligo indica Pfefferi, 1884; Loligo galatheae Hoyle, 1885; Loligo oshimai Sasaki, 1929

References:-

Silas, E. G. (Ed.) (1985). Cephalopod bionomics, fisheries and resources of the exclusive economic zone of India. Bull. Cent. Mar. Fish. Res. Inst., 37: 195pp.
Sreeja, V. (2013). Taxonomy and diversity of cephalopods (Mollusa: Cephalopoda) of Kerala coast. PhD Thesis submitted to University of Kerala, India.

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