Ancistrocheirus lesueurii d’Orbigny, 1842

Diagnosis: Ancistrocheirus with a gladius with a developed rachis.

Synonym: Enoploteuthis lesueurii d’Orbigny, 1842.

Type specimen: MNHN Holotype 2–14–614, 2–14–615 (gladius), 2–14–616 (beaks) [fide Lu et al. (1995)].

Type locality: Indo-Pacific Ocean (‘le grand Océan’ in original text) fide Bello (1992).

Remarks

The type specimen is a male (Bello 1992). The taxonomic history of this name is complicated [see Bello (1992), for comprehensive information]. The currently accepted name was provided by d’Orbigny in 1842 (Férussac and d’Orbigny 1834 –48), while the figures presented for the description show an asymmetric photophore pattern unlike any known for the genus (Férussac and d’Orbigny 1834 –48: pl.14; Fig.4). Althoughthephotophorepattern depicted by Férussac and d’Orbigny is dubious, the gladius is a very accurate representation showing a well-developed rachis (Férussac and d’Orbigny 1834 –48: pl. 11; Fig. 2), providing a solid morphological character for future redescriptions. According to Bello (1992), the type locality of this species is the Indo-Pacific Ocean (‘le grand Océan’ in the original text). The GenBank sequence OR304287 comes from a specimen sampled in Indian waters, and it is not linked to any published work at present. As this sequence came from near the type locality, but it is unknown if the morphology of this specimen is consistent with the original description of A. lesueurii, it is named here as Ancistrocheirus cf. lesueurii (= Ancistrocheirus sp. 4). The molecularly detected Ancistrocheirus sp. 3 and Ancistrocheirus sp. 6 (private sequences available at BOLDSYSTEMS and not added here in the analyses; Supporting Information, Fig. S1) were collected in Pacific waters. Formally linking the name A. lesueurii to any morphospecies or any Ancistrocheirus species identified with molecular data would require additional studies.