Information about Winged Argonaut

Winged Argonaut
Eggcase of Argonauta hians
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Cephalopoda Order: Octopoda Family: Argonautidae Genus: Argonauta Species: A. hians
Binomial name
Argonauta hians Lightfoot, 1786
Synonyms
Argonauta gondola Dillwyn, 1817 ?Argonauta haustrum Dillwyn, 1817 ?Ocythoe cranchii Leach, 1817 Argonauta nitida Lamarck, 1822 in 1815-1822 Argonauta crassicosta Blainville, 1826 ?Argonauta raricosta Leach in Blainville, 1826 Octopus (Philonexis) minimus D'Orbigny, 1834 in 1834-1847 Argonauta owenii Adams & Reeve, 1848 in 1848-1850 Argonauta kochiana Dunker, 1852 ?Argonauta cornuta Conrad, 1854 ?Argonauta dispar [?=A. cornuta] Conrad, 1854 Argonauta polita Conrad, 1854 ?Argonauta hians f. aurita Von Martens, 1867 ?Argonauta hians f. mutica Von Martens, 1867 ?Argonauta hians f. obtusangula Von Martens, 1867 ?Argonauta expansa [=A. cornuta] Dall, 1872

The Winged Argonaut (Argonauta hians), also known as the Muddy Argonaut or Brown Paper Nautilus, is a species of pelagic octopus. The common name comes from the grey to brown coloured shell. The Chinese name for this species translates as "Grey Sea-horse's Nest".^[1] The female of the species, like all argonauts, creates a paper-thin eggcase that coils around the octopus much like the way a nautilus lives in its shell (hence the name paper nautilus). The eggcase is characterised by a wide keel that gives it a square appearance, few rounded tubercles along the keel, and less than 40 smooth ribs across the sides of the shell.^[1] The shell is usually approximately 80 mm in length, although it can exceed 120 mm in exceptional specimens; the world record size is 121.5 mm.



A. hians is cosmopolitan, occurring in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.^[1] It is an extremely variable species and there appear to exist at least two distinct forms; a "southern" form and "northern" form (see images). The former is most abundant in the Philippines and South China Sea. It is a much smaller animal, with a shell that rarely exceeds 80 mm and lacks the winged protrusions for which this species is named. The "northern" form, which is found in the waters surrounding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, produces a much larger, darker and more robust shell that can reach 120 mm and has the characteristic winged protrusions. It is usually less elongated than that of the "southern" form and lacks its porcelain-like shine. Further research is needed to determine whether these forms represent two separate species or not.

A. hians feeds primarily on pelagic molluscs. Remains of heteropods have been reported from the stomachs of A. hians.^[2] The species is preyed on by numerous predators. It has been reported in the stomach contents of Alepisaurus ferox from the south-western Pacific.^[3]

Males of this species reach sexual maturity at a mantle length (ML) of about 7 mm, presumably the maximum size attained.^[2] Females mature at about half the size of Argonauta argo.^[4] They begin to secrete an eggcase at 6.5-7 mm ML.^[2] Egg laying usually commences when females reach 14-15 mm ML; by 18-20 mm ML female A. hians have laid their eggs. However, the size at which this takes place differs across the animal's range.^[2] Females grow to 50 mm ML, while males do not exceed 20 mm ML.^[1]



A. hians is known to cling to objects floating on the surface of the sea, including other argonauts.^[5][2] Chains of up to 20-30 argonauts of similar size have been reported.^[2] The first female in such chains usually clings to some inanimate object, while the other females hold onto the ventral part of the shell of the preceding animal.^[1][2] Gilbert Voss and Gordon Williamson observed six freshly-mated female A. hians off Hong Kong that were swimming along in a string.^[5][1]

In the open ocean, A. hians is often observed attached to jellyfish.^[6] It has been photographed atop the jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata in the Philippines.^[7] This behaviour has been known for a long time,^[8][6] although little was understood about the relationship prior to the work of Heeger et al. in 1992.^[9][7]

Underwater photographer Mark Strickland observed and photographed a female A. hians clinging to a jellyfish in the Mergui Archipelago, Andaman Sea, Myanmar.^[1] The argonaut was observed using the jellyfish as cover, rotating the animal to hide itself from potential predators (in this case the photographer). The argonaut was also seen using the jellyfish as a 'hunting platform', as it "manoeuvered its host close to a smaller comb jelly, quickly grasped it with another pair of tentacles and devoured it".^[1]

A. hians appears to be closely related to Argonauta cornuta from the north east Pacific and the smaller Argonauta bottgeri from the Indian Ocean.

The type locality and type repository of A. hians are unknown.^[10]

Juvenile female (6.5 mm ML) from the equatorial South Atlantic	Apparently immature male (5.0 mm ML) from the equatorial South Atlantic	Oral view of the same animal; note the modified hectocotylus	Funnel and mantle locking-apparatus of juvenile male (5.0 mm ML) from the equatorial South Atlantic

References

• Sweeney, M. J. (2002). Taxa Associated with the Family Argonautidae Tryon, 1879. Tree of Life web project.
• Lu, C. C.. Argonautidae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.

External links

• CephBase: Winged Argonaut
• Tree of Life web project: Argonauta

Argonauta species

A. argo • A. bottgeri • A. cornuta • A. hians • A. nodosa • A. nouryi • A. pacifica

Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Mollusca
Linnaeus, 1758

Classes

Caudofoveata
Aplacophora
Polyplacophora
Monoplacophora
Bivalvia
Scaphopoda
Gastropoda
Cephalopoda
† Rostroconchia
† Helcionelloida
† ?Bellerophontida
The molluscs
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Cephalopoda
Cuvier, 1797

Orders

Subclass Nautiloidea

• †Plectronocerida
• †Ellesmerocerida
• †Actinocerida
• †Pseudorthocerida
• †Endocerida
• †Tarphycerida
• †Oncocerida

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Octopoda
Leach, 1818

Suborders

†Pohlsepia (incertae sedis)
†Proteroctopus (incertae sedis)
†Palaeoctopus (incertae sedis)
Cirrina
Incirrina
Synonyms

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Argonautidae
Tryon, 1879

Genera

Argonauta
†Izumonauta
†Kapal
†Mizuhobaris
†Obinautilus

Argonautidae
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Argonauta
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

†Argonauta absyrtus
Argonauta argo (type)
Argonauta bottgeri
Argonauta cornuta*
Argonauta hians
†Argonauta itoigawai
†
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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The Reverend John Lightfoot (1735-1788) was an English conchologist and botanist.

Lightfoot was the chaplain and librarian of Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland.
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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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The pelagic zone is the part of the open sea or ocean that is not near the coast. In contrast, the neritic zone comprises the water that is near to (and is significantly affected by) the coast or the continental shelf.
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Octopoda
Leach, 1818

Suborders

†Pohlsepia (incertae sedis)
†Proteroctopus (incertae sedis)
†Palaeoctopus (incertae sedis)
Cirrina
Incirrina
Synonyms

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Argonauta
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

†Argonauta absyrtus
Argonauta argo (type)
Argonauta bottgeri
Argonauta cornuta*
Argonauta hians
†Argonauta itoigawai
†
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A. argo

Binomial name
Argonauta argo
Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

• Argonauta papyracea
  Roding, 1798
• Argonauta grandiformis
  Perry, 1811
• ?Argonauta striata

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The South China Sea is a marginal sea south of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from Singapore to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 km². It is the largest sea body after the five oceans.
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Republic of China. For other uses, see Taiwan (disambiguation).

Taiwan (Traditional Chinese: or ; Simplified Chinese:
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Anthem
March of the Volunteers^[1]

Capital None^[2]
Largest district (population) Sha Tin District
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Mollusca
Linnaeus, 1758

Classes

Caudofoveata
Aplacophora
Polyplacophora
Monoplacophora
Bivalvia
Scaphopoda
Gastropoda
Cephalopoda
† Rostroconchia
† Helcionelloida
† ?Bellerophontida
The molluscs
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Alepisauridae

Genus: Alepisaurus
Lowe, 1833

Species: A. ferox
A.
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A. argo

Binomial name
Argonauta argo
Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

• Argonauta papyracea
  Roding, 1798
• Argonauta grandiformis
  Perry, 1811
• ?Argonauta striata

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Anthem
March of the Volunteers^[1]

Capital None^[2]
Largest district (population) Sha Tin District
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Mastigiidae

Genus: Phyllorhiza

Species: P. punctata

Phyllorhiza punctata is a species of jellyfish, also known as the
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The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago) is an archipelago in far southern Myanmar (Burma). It consists of more than 800 islands, varying in size from very small to hundreds of square kilometres, all lying in the Andaman Sea off the western shore of the Malay
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The Andaman Sea (Burmese: မုတ္တမ; IPA: [moʊʔtəma̰]
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Anthem
Kaba Ma Kyei

Capital Naypyidaw

Largest city Yangon (Rangoon)
Official languages Burmese
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Ctenophora
Eschscholtz, 1829

Classes

Tentaculata
Nuda

The phylum Ctenophora, commonly known as Comb Jellies, is a phylum classically grouped with Cnidaria in the Coelenterata infrakingdom.
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A. cornuta

Binomial name
Argonauta cornuta
Conrad, 1854

Synonyms

• ?Argonauta dispar
  Conrad, 1854
• Argonauta expansa
  Dall, 1872

Argonauta cornuta
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