Whip-lash Squid - Species

Species

This family is taxonomically misunderstood. With many species represented by single, damaged, and juvenile specimens, this group is still creating controversy in the taxonomic community. Salcedo-Vargas and Okutani (1994) reclassified the family and eliminated the genus Echinoteuthis, added two subgenera, and reduced the number of species to eight. Three years later, after the careful examination of skin tubercles and photophores, Salcedo-Vargas eliminated his subgenera, and increased the number of species to 17 (Salcedo-Vargas, 1997).

  • Genus Idioteuthis
    • Idioteuthis latipinna
    • Idioteuthis cordiformis
    • Idioteuthis hjorti
    • Idioteuthis okutanii
    • ?Idioteuthis danae
    • ?Idioteuthis famelica
    • Idioteuthis tyroi
  • Genus Mastigoteuthis
    • Mastigoteuthis agassizii
    • Mastigoteuthis atlantica
    • Mastigoteuthis dentata
    • ? Mastigoteuthis flammea
    • Mastigoteuthis glaukopis
    • Mastigoteuthis grimaldii
    • Mastigoteuthis inermis
    • Mastigoteuthis iselini
    • Mastigoteuthis magna
    • Mastigoteuthis microlucens
    • Mastigoteuthis psychrophila
    • Mastigoteuthis pyrodes
    • ? Mastigoteuthis schmidti

The question mark (?) indicates questionable placement within the genus. The specific arrangement of the species under Idioteuthis indicates 4 different subgroups under revision. I. famelica is now verified to be member of genus Mastigoteuthis.

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