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Via the NZ antarctic fisheries observer known as hud2, he of the previously unknown M. Hamiltoni specimen, come these shots of a striking cirrate octopus.
(Above images courtesy of and wholly owned by hud2)
According to hud2, this gelatinous octopus was recovered from the stomach of a Patagonian toothfish, which makes the preservation of the specimen all the more remarkable, and suggests that toothfish might not be biters so much as gulpers. I can't think of any other explanation for the excellent condition of the thing. I talked about this one with OB, and we thought we were looking at a decapod, but what we took for an extra pair of arms was the animals umbrella-like webbing. The skin has separated from the mantle, which is nearly as transparent as the arms, and one fin can be seen. The measuring marks must be centimeters, and they are clearly visible through the arms...amazing transparency. The eyes are very well-defined, dark and barrel-shaped, and the arms present both cirri and small suckers not on stalks.
This and other specimens were sent to Te Papa museum in NZ, so it's possible that Bald Tank Man himself has already ID'd it, but I'm going to throw out Stauroteuthis gilchristi as a possibility. It's a good-looking match, anyhow, the morphology being very similar, and S. gilchristi is known from South Georgian and sub-South African locales. On the other hand, the gut of the mystery cirrate appears to show a large caecum which I don't see on the S. gilchristi drawing, and the mystery cirrate's suckers appear to be smaller.
A beautiful thing, whatever it is. Many thanks to hud2 for his generosity, and for allowing me to post these.
Clem
(Above images courtesy of and wholly owned by hud2)
According to hud2, this gelatinous octopus was recovered from the stomach of a Patagonian toothfish, which makes the preservation of the specimen all the more remarkable, and suggests that toothfish might not be biters so much as gulpers. I can't think of any other explanation for the excellent condition of the thing. I talked about this one with OB, and we thought we were looking at a decapod, but what we took for an extra pair of arms was the animals umbrella-like webbing. The skin has separated from the mantle, which is nearly as transparent as the arms, and one fin can be seen. The measuring marks must be centimeters, and they are clearly visible through the arms...amazing transparency. The eyes are very well-defined, dark and barrel-shaped, and the arms present both cirri and small suckers not on stalks.
This and other specimens were sent to Te Papa museum in NZ, so it's possible that Bald Tank Man himself has already ID'd it, but I'm going to throw out Stauroteuthis gilchristi as a possibility. It's a good-looking match, anyhow, the morphology being very similar, and S. gilchristi is known from South Georgian and sub-South African locales. On the other hand, the gut of the mystery cirrate appears to show a large caecum which I don't see on the S. gilchristi drawing, and the mystery cirrate's suckers appear to be smaller.
A beautiful thing, whatever it is. Many thanks to hud2 for his generosity, and for allowing me to post these.
Clem