- Tentacles
- Club without keel, carpal locking-apparatus or terminal pad.
- Tentacle club of 10.5 mm ML squid shows a pronounced constriction of the club-bearing portion of the tentacle.
- Suckers
- Arm suckers with ca. 20 rounded to truncate teeth around entire margin (Fig. A).
- Club suckers with ca. 12 small teeth around entire margin (Fig. B).
- Head and funnel
- Buccal connectives attach to the ventral margins of arms IV.
- Funnel component oval with deep, simple bowl-shaped depression.
- Mantle component a rounded knob.
- Radula
- Heterodont radula.
- Rhachidian with large median and two lateral cusps.
- Lateral tooth I with large medial cusp and small conical lateral cusp.
- Lateral tooth II broad and low with sharp medial cusp.
- Marginal tooth long, sharp and curved.
- Beaks
- Lower beak with broad lateral wall ridge.
- Gladius
- "The gladius is extremely thin and delicate. The free rachis is long, needlelike, delicate and flexible. Anteriorly, it is filamentlike and does not extend to the anterior edge of the mantle. Instead, a filamentous strand of connective tisse extends from its anterior limit to the edge of the mantle. Posteriorly, the rachis extends to the tip of the gladius"Toll (1982), 16.4 mm ML squid, 12.4 mm GL.
This squid has never been described but it has been illustrated in Voss (1992) (drawing below). This specimen is from the type locality and appears to be a valid Promachoteuthis sp. B.
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Figure. Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the S.E. Pacific, 16.4 mm ML. Top - Ventral view of gladius. Drawing from Toll (1982). Bottom - Ventral view of squid. Drawing from Voss (1992).
- North Atlantic specimen (50 mm ML)
- Mantle fused to head.
- Eyes small (3 mm).
- Arms 50% of ML.
- Arm suckers biserial, with smooth rings.
- Tentacle length five times ML; tentacle constriction at club not mentioned.
- Club with maximum of 20 suckers across.
- Tentacle suckers about equal to arm suckers in size.
- Tentacle without band of dark pigment near base.
- Funnel locking-apparatus with round depression (Fig. A).
- Arm suckers with smooth inner rings (Fig. B).
- Measurement
Figure. Oral view of a tentacle from Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the SE Pacific; 10.5 mm ML. Drawing from Roper and Young (1968).
Figure. Oral view of arm (A) and club suckers (B) of Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the SE Pacific, 17 mm ML. Drawing from Roper and Young (1968).
Figure. Funnel locking-apparatus from Promachoteuthis. sp. B taken in the SE Pacific, 17 mm ML. Drawing from Roper and Young (1968)
Figure. Funnel organs from Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the SE Pacific. The funnel organs of two squid differ considerably. The funnel organ of the 10.5 mm ML squid (left) has an oblong dorsal pad and two oval ventral pads. The funnel organ of the 17 mm ML squid (right) has an inverted V-shaped dorsal pad and pear-shaped ventral pads. Drawings from Roper and Young (1968).
Figure. Radula from Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the SE Pacific, 17 mm ML. Drawing from Roper and Young (1968).
Figure. Beaks from Promachoteuthis sp. B taken in the SE Pacific, 17 mm ML. Left - Upper beak. Right - Lower beak. Drawing from Roper and Young (1968).
Figure. Ventral and dorsal views of Promachoteuthis sp. B? from the North Atlantic; 50 mm ML. Drawing from Salcedo-Vargas and Guerrero-Kommritz (2000).
| Sex | ? | ? | Immature female |
| Mantle length, mm | 17 | 10.5 | 50 |
| Mantle width | 8 | 6 | 22 |
| Head length | 4 + | 3.3 | 12 |
| Head width | 7 | 4 | 9 |
| Fin length | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| Fin width | 12 | 7.5 | 42 |
| Length, arm I | 3.7 | 3 | 50 |
| Length, arm II | 4 | 3 | 50 |
| Length, arm III | 4 | 3 | 50 |
| Length, arm IV | 4.5 | 4 - | 50 |
| Tentacle length | 13 | 10 | 252 |
| Club length | 9 | 6 | 126 |
| Eye diameter | 0.8 | 0.8 | 6 |
Comments
The measurements and description by Salcedo-Vargas and Guerrero-Kommritz ( 2000) state that the tentacles of the North Atlantic specimen are 5 times the mantle length; however, the illustration shows the tentacles about 2 1/2 times the mantle length. The large North Atlantic specimen differs from the South Pacific Promachoteuthis sp. B in the apparent lack of constriction of the portion of the tentacle bearing the club and the smooth-ringed suckers. These features along with some differences in proportions may be due to the size differences. Among other features, the relatively small fins, the approximately equal sized arm and club suckers and the same number of club sucker series suggest that this is a Promachoteuthis sp. B.
