Marek R. Lipinski
Marine and Coastal Management, Private Bag X2, Roggebaai 8012, Cape
Town, South Africa
Key words: systematics, squids, new genus, two new species, SW Atlantic, Antarctic waters
Abstract.
Two species of cephalopods belonging to the squid family
Brachioteuthidae are described for the first time. Brachioteuthis linkovskyi
sp. nov. is a large brachioteuthid (120 mm mantle length [ML], mature male)
collected at night in 720 m water depth using a krill trawl about 600 miles
south-east of Montevideo (South Atlantic). Characters differentiating it
from other brachioteuthids include: a fibrous net covering the head and
arms (at least in mature males), sucker dentition on arms and tentacular
clubs, and tentacular club and stalk morphology. Slosarczykovia circumantarctica
gen. et sp. nov. is a large brachioteuthid (150 mm ML, but 170 mm
has been reported in the literature), which has often puzzled teuthologists
and has been reported previously from the Antarctic waters. Characters
of the new genus include subequal suckers on the tentacular clubs and a
delicate net of fibrous tissue covering the entire bodies of both sexes
for individuals of about 60 mm and longer. The holotype for the new genus
and species was collected by a krill trawl in the waters adjacent to the
Wilkes Land (Antarctica) in January 1978. Slosarczykovia circumantarctica
is one of the most common squids in the Antarctic waters and occurs around
the Antarctic.