Marine Species Identification Portal : Gonatus fabricii

(auctt. non Lichtenstein, 1818)

Description:
Mantle length 30-35 cm. Tentacles are long and strong. One row of suckers along the ventral edge of tentacular stalk. Club is short, its length 13-17 % of mantle length. In addition to the central hook in the club, a distal and some small proximal hooks are present; central hook is very large and sharp. There are 9-13 transverse rows of suckers and hooks in the basal half of the 3rd arm; 14-17 transverse rows of suckers in the basal half of the 4th arm. Fin is heart-shaped, passing beyond the posterior end of the mantle.

Habitat:
Lower epipelagic and mesopelagic; at night sometimes ascending to the surface. Also lives at the bottom on the slopes. Larvae and juveniles live in the epipelagic zone.

Distribution:
A very common species. All deep-sea part of the Polar Basin, Norway, Greenland, western Barents Sea, Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, Labrador Sea, and north-western Atlantic southward to south of Cape Cod (Distr. G. fabricii).

Gonatus fabricii