Glass octopus

Vitreledonella richardi, also known as the glass octopus, is an incirrate octopus. It is in the genus Vitreledonella and of the family Amphitretidae.

Glass octopus
Ventral view of female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Amphitretidae
Genus: Vitreledonella
Joubin, 1918
Species:
V. richardi
Binomial name
Vitreledonella richardi
Joubin, 1918[2]
SynonymsWoRMS/>
  • Vitreledonella ingeborgae Joubin, 1929
  • Vitreledonella translucida Robson, 1930

Vitreledonella richardi is a transparent, gelatinous, and almost colorless meso- to bathypelagic octopod found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas with a mantle length (ML) up to 11 cm and a total length up to 45 cm in adults. The upper three pairs of arms are subequal in length; in juveniles about as long as the mantle, in adults two to three times ML. The fourth, ventral pair is slightly shorter. Suckers are small, widely separated, and in a single series. In males, the left arm III is hectocotylized, with a spherical vesicle near the tip, but is not detachable. Eyes are nearly rectangular in shape as seen from the side. The radula is heterodont, also known as heteroglossan, in which the middle or rhachidian tooth in each array has multiple cusps and the lateral teeth are unicuspid.

Vitreledonella richardi is ovoviviparous. The female broods her eggs, of which hundreds are within the mantle cavity. Each egg measures about 4 mm in length. Newborn larvae have a ML around 2.2 mm.

References

  1. Allcock, L. (2014). "Vitreledonella richardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T162988A961420. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T162988A961420.en.
  2. Philippe Bouchet (2013). "Vitreledonella richardi Joubin, 1918". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 3 February 2018.


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