Asperoteuthis

[GPO87]

Asperoteuthis have many similarities to Grimalditeuthis; however a major difference that exists is the presence of many small suckers at the outer end of the tentacle club. (Where as Grim's do not have any suckers on their clubs). Asperoteuthis have what appears to be a secondary fin along their tail (which could be a flotation device as is thought to be the case in Grimalditeuthis). These squid can get fairly large, and have been seen swimming below 1000 m depth.

More info here:

 

[GPO87]

@Heather Braid is currently doing some research on the systematics and genetics of this genus right now, and hopefully she can shed some more light on how cool these are!

 

[Heather Braid]

These squid are extremely cool! Asperoteuthis acanthoderma is the one that gets really big, but then there is A. mangoldae that is really quite little in comparison. My favourite species is A. lui, who was described from the head of a single squid that came out of the stomach of a ling (a big pink fish) and it was missing the funnel and one tentacle, but it had both eyes. The taxonomy in this genus is about to be shaken up so watch this space!

 

[DWhatley]

Resolving the taxonomic status of Asperoteuthis luiSalcedo-Vargas, 1999 (Cephalopoda, Chiroteuthidae) using integrative taxonomy
Heather E. Braid (@Heather Braid) 2016 (subscription Springer)

Abstract
The biology and systematics of the squid genus Asperoteuthis Nesis, 1980, are poorly known. Although there have been four named and five described species in this genus, it now appears that there are only three valid species: A. acanthoderma (Lu, 1977), A. mangoldae Young, Vecchione & Roper, 2007a, and A. lui Salcedo-Vargas, 1999. Using a combination of mitochondrial DNA sequences (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I [COI], 16S rRNA, and 12S rRNA) and morphology, A. nesisi Arkhipkin & Laptikhovsky, 2008, and Clarke’s (1980) ‘?Mastigoteuthis A’ both appear to be junior synonyms of A. lui. The most distinctive feature of this species is the aboral tentacle club photophore distribution, which is chiral, with more photophores dorsally (∼11–16) than ventrally (∼9–12). Genetically, there is low intraspecific variation within A. lui and higher interspecific variation between this species and other chiroteuthids. Previously only known from the type description, A. lui now appears to have a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean and is the most commonly encountered Asperoteuthis species in the diet of marine predators.

 

[GPO87]

Some fantastic Asperoteuthis footage!

 

[jeffday]

schmidt ocean caught one of these guys on the way down for dive 340, looks like a. mangoldae

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1240457817632518149

 

[jeffday]

also looks like an ROV pilot working in the gulf saw a. acanthoderma while working: