Gonatus onyx

Clawed armhook squid
Gonatus onyx on the Davidson Seamount at 1,328 m depth.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Teuthida
Family: Gonatidae
Genus: Gonatus
Subgenus: Gonatus
Species: G. onyx
Binomial name
Gonatus onyx
Young, 1972

Gonatus onyx, also known as the clawed armhook squid or black-eyed squid, is a squid in the family Gonatidae. It occurs in the northern Pacific Ocean from Japan to California.[1]

G. onyx grows to 18 cm in mantle length.[2]

The type specimen was collected off California and is deposited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.[3]

Range

They can be found off of coastal California and the Northern Pacific. They can be found as low as the top portion of the Baja Peninsula, and as high as the Bering Sea.

Reproduction

A female Gonatus onyx will carry a brood of anywhere between 2,000 to 3,000 eggs however they cannot use their arms while they do this so they must use their fins and mantle to move. They take the eggs to deep waters where there are far fewer predators so that their young will have a higher chance of survival.

References

  1. Norman, M.D. 2000. Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks.
  2. Okutani, T. 1995. Cuttlefish and squids of the world in color. Publication for the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the National Cooperative Association of Squid Processors.
  3. Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda

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