Bigfin squid

Not to be confused with Bigfin reef squid.

Bigfin squid
A bigfin squid filmed in 2001,
possibly an adult Magnapinna sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Oegopsida
Superfamily: Chiroteuthoidea
Family: Magnapinnidae
Vecchione & Young, 1998
Genus: Magnapinna
Vecchione & Young, 1998[1]
Type species
Magnapinna pacifica
Vecchione & Young, 1998
Species

Bigfin squids are a group of rarely seen cephalopods with a distinctive morphology. They are placed in the genus Magnapinna and family Magnapinnidae.[2] Although the family was described only from larval, paralarval, and juvenile specimens, numerous video observations of much larger squid with similar morphology are assumed to be adult specimens of the same family.[3]

The arms and tentacles of the squid are both extremely long, estimated at 4 to 8 m (13 to 26 ft). These appendages are held perpendicular to the body, creating "elbows". How the squid feeds is yet to be discovered.[4]

Magnapinna is thought to be the deepest-occurring squid genus, with sightings as deep as 6,212 metres (20,381 ft) below the surface, making it the only squid known to inhabit the hadal zone.[5][6]

  1. ^ Finn, Julian (2016). "Magnapinna Vecchione & Young, 1998". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Magnapinna Vecchione & Young 1998 - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  3. ^ Vecchione, Michael; Young, Richard E. (29 August 2016). "Magnapinna". Tree of Life Web Project. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  4. ^ Osterhage, Deborah; MacIntosh, Hugh; Althaus, Franziska; Ross, Andrew (11 November 2020). "Multiple observations of Bigfin Squid (Magnapinna sp.) in the Great Australian Bight reveal distribution patterns, morphological characteristics, and rarely seen behaviour". PLOS ONE. 15 (11): e0241066. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1541066O. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241066. PMC 7657483. PMID 33175888.
  5. ^ Jamieson, Alan J.; Vecchione, Michael (2 December 2021). "Hadal cephalopods: first squid observation (Oegopsida, Magnapinnidae, Magnapinna sp.) and new records of finned octopods (Cirrata) at depths > 6000 m in the Philippine Trench". Marine Biology. 169 (1): 11. doi:10.1007/s00227-021-03993-x. ISSN 1432-1793. S2CID 244857743.
  6. ^ Specktor, Brandon (18 January 2022). "World's deepest-dwelling squid spotted 20,000 feet under the sea". livescience.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.