--- id: bda8db55-e27a-480b-bf0e-79a770970435 title: 'Onychoteuthis: Genus of Squid' abstract: Onychoteuthis is a genus of squid belonging to the family Onychoteuthidae, with Onychoteuthis bergii as the type species. These cephalopods are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans, as well as the North Pacific, and are frequently observed in surface waters at night. The genus currently comprises approximately 10 species and is often caught using dipnets at nightlight stations. classification: primary: '597.5' secondary: - '59' - '57' udc_main_class: '5' tags: - Onychoteuthis - squid - cephalopoda - marine biology - zoology - taxonomy topics: - Zoology - Marine Biology - Taxonomy author: '' created_at: '2026-06-01T00:09:38.094595' updated_at: '2026-06-01T02:10:21.582383' sources: - type: url uri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onychoteuthis format: url_fetch udc_label: Ornithology, birds version: '1' --- ## Card: Onychoteuthis: Genus of Squid Onychoteuthis is a genus of squid belonging to the family Onychoteuthidae, with Onychoteuthis bergii as the type species. These cephalopods are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans, as well as the North Pacific, and are frequently observed in surface waters at night. The genus currently comprises approximately 10 species and is often caught using dipnets at nightlight stations. ## Classification Primary: 597.5 | Secondary: 59, 57 | Tags: Onychoteuthis, squid, cephalopoda, marine biology, zoology, taxonomy | Topics: Zoology, Marine Biology, Taxonomy ## Content Onychoteuthis - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Anatomy 2 Species 3 References Toggle the table of contents Onychoteuthis 12 languages العربية مصرى Cebuano Ελληνικά Français Italiano Nederlands Русский Svenska Türkçe Tiếng Việt Winaray Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Genus of squids Onychoteuthis Onychoteuthis banksii Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Cephalopoda Order: Oegopsida Family: Onychoteuthidae Genus: Onychoteuthis Lichtenstein , 1818 [ 1 ] Type species Onychoteuthis bergii Lichtenstein, 1818 Species See text Synonyms Chaunoteuthis Appellöf , 1891 Teleonychoteuthis Pfeffer , 1900 Onychoteuthis is a genus of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae . The type species is Onychoteuthis bergii . While the genus is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans, they can also occur in the North Pacific Ocean . There were previously considered to be four species in the genus but there are now considered to be roughly 10. These squid are frequently observed in the surface waters at night and they are often caught using dipnet at nightlight stations. The young squid are usually the only specimens captured using standard midwater trawls, the older squid are apparently able to avoid the trawls. They can, however be collected from the air as individuals are able to leap high out of the water, sometimes even landing on the deck of a ship. [ 2 ] Anatomy [ edit ] Head and circum-oral processes of the fore-foot. a , Neck. b , Eye. c , The eight short arms. d , Long prehensile tentacles, the clavate extremities of which are provided with suckers at e , and with a double row of hooks beyond at f . Most species belonging to the genus have a mantle length of under 200 mm, however the larger members may measure over 300 mm. [ 2 ] The species in this genus have a densely muscular, cylindrical mantle which is tapered posteriorly into a pointed tail. Their skin is smooth and has no warts or wrinkles. The gladius can be seen through the skin along the midline of the back. The fins are rhomboid in shape, heart shape or arrow shaped and are pointed posteriorly. The species of Onychoteuthis have 8-10 prominent nuchal folds . Their tentacular clubs have 2 central series of 19-27 large, strong hooks on their manus and the adults either have no lateral sucker series no marginal series of suckers. or they are vestigial. The chitinous rings of the suckers on the arms is smooth, with no teeth. They have photophores in their mantle cavity with a small one placed anteriorly on the ink sac , another near the anus; a large one placed posteriorly on the intestine and a bilobed photophore located on the ventral surface of each eye. [ 3 ] Species [ edit ] The following species are included in the genus: [ 1 ] Onychoteuthis aequimanus Gabb , 1868 Onychoteuthis banksii ( Leach , 1817) , common clubhook squid Onychoteuthis bergii Lichtenstein, 1818 Onychoteuthis borealijaponica Okada , 1927 , boreal clubhook squid Onychoteuthis compacta ( Berry , 1913) Onychoteuthis horstkottei Bolstad, 2010 Onychoteuthis lacrima Bolstad & Seki, 2008 Onychoteuthis meridiopacifica Rancurel & Okutani, 1990 Onychoteuthis mollis ( Appellöf , 1891) Onychoteuthis prolata Bolstad, Vecchione & Young , 2008 There are also two species which are considered taxa inquirendum and up to 11 which are classed as nomen dubia . [ 1 ] References [ edit ] ^ a b c Philippe Bouchet (2018). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). " Onychoteuthis Lichtenstein, 1818" . MolluscaBase . World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 13 March 2018 . ^ a b Bolstad, K.S.R.; Michael Vecchione ; Richard E. Young & Kotaro Tsuchiya (2010). " Onychoteuthis Lichtenstein, 1818. Version 23 December 2010 (under construction)" . The Tree of Life Web Project . ^ P. Jereb; C.F.E. Roper, eds. (2010). Cephalopods of the World an Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cephalopod Species Known to Date Volume 2 Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids (PDF) . Food and Agriculture Organization Rome. p. 349. ISBN   978-92-5-106720-8 . Taxon identifiers Onychoteuthis Wikidata : Q3166929 Wikispecies : Onychoteuthis ADW : Onychoteuthis AFD : Onychoteuthis BOLD : 2104 CoL : 7PB93 EoL : 57540 GBIF : 2289812 iNaturalist : 246438 ITIS : 82439 NBN : NBNSYS0000184930 NCBI : 61726 NZOR: 22412bc4-4571-4877-aac5-d738ec2bdf3e Open Tree of Life : 944402 WoRMS : 138291 Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Onychoteuthis&oldid=1331710610 " Categories : Onychoteuthis Hooked squid Cephalopod genera Bioluminescent molluscs Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles with 'species' microformats This page was last edited on 7 January 2026, at 20:03  (UTC) . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. , a non-profit organization. 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