Mastigotragus, Young & Vecchione & Braid, 2014

Young, Richard E., Vecchione, Michael & Braid, Heather E., 2014, Mastigotragus, a new generic name for Mastigoteuthis pyrodes Young, 1972 (Cephalopoda: Mastigoteuthidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 105, pp. 1-6 : 5

Mastigotragus gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5F1DDC20-A391-4B52-BA8A-23FFC9F7888D

Type species: Mastigoteuthis pyrodes Young, 1972 , by monotypy.

Diagnosis

A mastigoteuthid with (1) numerous small, but easily observed integumental photophores on the ventral surface of arms IV, on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the head, mantle and fins, and with a relatively large photophore on each eyelid; (2) a broad funnel component of the funnel/mantle locking apparatus, with strong tragus, but without antitragus or undercut posterior margin; (3) comparatively large club suckers (about 0.3 mm in diameter).

Etymology

Here “mastigo” refers to the name of the family and “tragus” refers to the prominent tragus of the funnel locking apparatus. Mastigo is Latin for “whip” which refers to the form of the tentacle; “tragus” is a Latin word derived from the Greek trágos, indicating an appearance similar to the tragus of the human ear.