Two new genera and species of sepioline squids (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) from Australia

Abstract

Two new genera and species of sepioline squid (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) are described from Australian waters. Dextrasepiola taenia is characterised by having copulatory organs (i.e. the hectocotylised arm in the males and the bursa copulatrix in the females) in the right side of the body. All other known sepiolinids have copulatory organs in the left side of the body. Amutatiola macroventosa is characterised by the absence of a hectcotylised arm in mature males; instead, it possesses many enormously enlarged suckers on some of the arms of the males. The bursa copulatrix is in the left side of the female body, as in other known sepioline squids. The discovery of these two new taxa indicates that the present definition of Sepiolinae needs to be broadened to accommodate these two new genera.