A new species of Cistopus (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) from Taiwan and morphology of mucous pouches

Cistopus taiwanicus n. sp. is a medium to large benthic octopus. The primary diagnostic character for the genus Cistopus is the possession of eight mucous pouches set in the oral surface of the webs between each of the arm bases. This study describes the morphological characters of C. taiwanicus fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of molluscan studies 2009-08, Vol.75 (3), p.269-278
Main Authors: Liao, Jian-Xiang, Lu, Chung-Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cephalopoda
Cistopus
Marine
Octopodidae
Octopus
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Summary:Cistopus taiwanicus n. sp. is a medium to large benthic octopus. The primary diagnostic character for the genus Cistopus is the possession of eight mucous pouches set in the oral surface of the webs between each of the arm bases. This study describes the morphological characters of C. taiwanicus from Taiwanese waters and the histology of the mucous pouches. Cistopus taiwanicus can be distinguished from Cistopus indicus by enlarged suckers in mature males and lower sucker counts on normal arms and hectocotylized arm. The inner walls of the mucous pouches are composed of columnar epithelial cells and mucus is secreted from the epithelial cells. Cistopus taiwanicus shows sexual dimorphism in the openings of the mucous pouches; males possess radial white stripes around the mucous pores and significantly larger pore diameters.
ISSN:0260-1230
1464-3766
DOI:10.1093/mollus/eyp023