Enchoteuthis (meaning "spear squid") is an extinct genus of large enchoteuthine cephalopod that lived during the Cretaceous. Although it and its relative Tusoteuthis are often compared to squid, both are now thought to be more closely related to modern octopuses. Examination of gladius remains initially yielded an estimated mantle length about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) based on specimen once described as Tusoteuthis longa, close to or equal to that of the modern giant squid, although reclassification of this genus as a muensterelloid results in a much shorter total length, about 3 m (10 ft). Three species are currently recognized as valid: E. melanae, E. tonii, and E. cobbani.[5]
^Miller, H.W.; Walker, M.V. (1968). "Enchoteuthis melanae and Kansasteuthis lindneri, new genera and species of teuthids, and a sepiid from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 71 (2): 176–183. doi:10.2307/3627369. JSTOR3627369.
^Larson, N.L. (2010). "Fossil coleoids from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian & Maastrichtian) of the Western Interior". Ferrantia. 59: 78–113.
^Wade, M. (1993). "New Kelaenida and Vampyromorpha: Cretaceous squid from Queensland". Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists. 15: 353–374.
^Green, R.G. (1977). "Niobrarateuthis walkeri, a new species of teuthid from the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation of Kansas". Journal of Paleontology. 51 (5): 992–995.
^ abFuchs, D.; Iba, Y.; Heyng, A.; Iijima, M.; Klug, C.; Larson, N.L.; Schweigert, G. (2020). "The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods". Papers in Palaeontology. 6 (1): 31–92. Bibcode:2020PPal....6...31F. doi:10.1002/spp2.1254. S2CID198256507.