Thaumeledone Robson 1930

Thaumeledone is a genus of octopuses in the family Octopodidae found in deep waters in the Southern Hemisphere.

Characteristics

Members of this genus are found in deep waters in the Southern Hemisphere. They are small, squat-bodied, benthic octopuses with arms united by a web. A single row of suckers occurs on the arms. Most species have a deep purple pigmentation on the oral surface of the web. One arm in the male is modified into a hectocotylus. This has a large calamus at the end, giving it a club-like appearance.^[1]

Species

These species are accepted by the World Register of Marine Species:^[2]

• Thaumeledone brevis (Hoyle, 1885) - southwest Atlantic Ocean^[3]
• Thaumeledone gunteri Robson, 1930 - Southern Ocean around South Georgia^[3]
• Thaumeledone marshalli O'Shea, 1999 - New Zealand and the southwest Pacific Ocean
• Thaumeledone peninsulae Allcock, Collins, Piatkowski & Vecchione, 2004 - Southern Ocean, Antarctic Peninsula^[3]
• Thaumeledone rotunda (Hoyle, 1885) - Southern Ocean and circumpolar (This name is considered invalid by the World Register of Marine Species, which prefers Bentheledone rotunda.)^[3]
• Thaumeledone zeiss O'Shea, 1999 - New Zealand and the southwest Pacific Ocean

References