(d'Orbigny, 1839)
Description
Adult. Body ovoid and stout; maximum total body-length 65 mm. Dorsal anterior edge of mantle is fused to dorsal surface of head between eyes. Fins are thin and delicate, oval, as broad as body at point of attachment. Dorsal pair of arms linked proximally by a membrane, the cleft between them being noticeably shorter than between other arms. Left dorsal arm of male is greatly widened distal to copulatory apparatus; there are two large suckers followed by 2-4 small and then again two large suckers in dorsal row distal to copulatory apparatus; suckers are then gradually diminishing in size distally. Horn of copulatory apparatus is long, over half of arm width, twisted. Tentacle club with up to 30 rows of very small suckers, dorsal suckers are not larger than the ventral suckers.
Juvenile. Description not available. Hatchlings come out as miniature adults (see Lu et al., in Sweeney et al., 1992, p. 21.). The identification characters for juveniles are hence similar to those that are used for the identification of adults.
Size
Total length 6.5 cm (without tentacles).
Depth range
Shelf (mainly outer) and upper bathyal.
Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea and Skagerrak, rare in the southern North Sea.
World distribution
NE Atlantic, from SW Norway to Mediterranean Sea and Senegal.