Cirrate octopods from Greenland and Iceland waters

Abstract

Three species of cirrate octopod are reported from deep-sea collections around the coasts of Greenland and Iceland in the North Atlantic. Twenty-one specimens of Stauroteuthis syrtensis were caught from east and west Greenland at depths of 258–1321 m, representing a considerable geographic and bathymetric extension of the range. Nine specimens of a putative new species of the genus Opisthoteuthis are reported, and are the first records of this genus in the area. Nineteen specimens of the circum-Arctic species Cirroteuthis muelleri add significantly to our knowledge of the distribution this species. Latitudinal patterns in the bathymetric distribution of C. muelleri and S. syrtensis suggest temperature is the principal controlling factor.