Greater Argonaut
Argonauta argo
4.1 cm (range 3.6 cm–4.5 cm) record 5.4 cm
Total hectocotylus length (sucker-bearing part 8–10 lines plus filiform appendage 'about as much'), in three males whose arm was freed from its sac. Converted at 1 Paris line = 2.256 mm (assumed unit); range 16–20 lines = 36.1–45.1 mm
Detachable, Relative champion
The male's mating arm develops coiled in a sac and is made to break off. Found loose inside females, it was first described as a separate creature, until Müller found one still attached to a male.
Margin note: He sends a representative.
Sources
- Müller H. (1853) Ueber das Männchen von Argonauta Argo und die Hectocotylen. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 4:1–35, Taf. I link
- Müller H. (1853) Upon the male of Argonauta argo and the Hectocotyli. In: Henfrey A., Huxley T.H. (eds) Scientific Memoirs, Natural History. London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 52–ff. (English translation of source 1) link
- Roper C.F.E., Sweeney M.J., Nauen C.E. (1984) FAO Species Catalogue Vol. 3. Cephalopods of the world. FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125(3), pp. 225–226 (Argonautidae) link
- Australian Faunal Directory: Family Argonautidae (Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) link
Drawn from
- Müller 1853, Taf. I, Fig. 2: Male A. argo with the hectocotylus freed from its sac: thick sucker-bearing arm continuing into a long, looping, thin filament; Fig. 1 shows a male with the arm still inside the sac
See it at true size on your screen · Human vs Greater Argonaut