Uroteuthis chinensis

Scientific Name:-

Uroteuthis chinensis

Common Name:-

Mitre squid

Malayalam Name:-

Koonthal

Category:-

Mollusca

Status:-

Not evaluated

Description:-

Fresh specimens pale reddish brown; numerous brown chromatophores scattered all over the dorsal and ventral mantle, head, arms and fins. Specimens preserved in formalin reddish brown. Mantle elongate, slender, cylindrical anteriorly and tapered posteriorly to a blunt point, cutaneous ridge on ventral midline absent. Mantle width 23–35% of mantle length. Fins large, rhombic, anterior margin slightly convex, posterior margin concave, fin length two-thirds of mantle length. Head small, broad, head width narrower than mantle width. Eyes prominent. Buccal lappet with several small suckers. Eyes prominent. Buccal lappet with several small suckers. Arms moderately long. Arm formula III>IV>II>I. Suckers biserial, oblique, medium in size, slightly larger in males. Left ventral arm hectocotylized in males by a modification of more than 30 suckers and stalks in each series into slender, conical papillae. Papillae in the ventral row are larger than the dorsal row. Large sucker rings of II and III arms bears up to 10–12 sharp teeth on the distal margin, proximal margin are smooth or slightly denticulate with a few plate like teeth. Tentacles moderately long and slender. Club suckers quadriserial, about 12 medial manal suckers are larger than lateral ones. Large tentacular sucker rings with 20–30 sharp, separate conical teeth, 6 to 12 larger teeth interspersed with 1 to 5 smaller ones.

Threats:-

Not recorded

Remark:-

Uroteuthis chinensis is one of the commercially exploited squids of India. Sreeja (2013) recorded it for the first time from Kerala.

Habitat:-

Neritic species ranging from 15–170 m depth.

Synonyms:-

Loligo chinensis Gray, 1849; Uroteuthis (Photololigo) chinensis (Gray, 1849); Loligo etheridgei Berry, 1918, Adam, 1954; Loligo formosana Sasaki, 1929, Voss and Williamson, 1971.

References:-

Silas, E. G. (Ed.) (1985). Cephalopod bionomics, fisheries and resources of the exclusive economic zone of India. Bull. Cent. Mar. Fish. Res. Inst., 37: 195pp.
Sreeja, V. (2013). Taxonomy and diversity of cephalopods (Mollusa: Cephalopoda) of Kerala coast. PhD Thesis submitted to University of Kerala, India.

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