a1 Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Two species of the bobtail squid Heteroteuthis are reported from the Atlantic Ocean, H. dispar in the North Atlantic Ocean and H. dagamensis in the South Atlantic Ocean. In total 58 individuals were examined, 23 belonging to the species Heteroteuthis dispar and 35 belonging to the species H. dagamensis. All specimens were captured during the Walther Herwig Expeditions 1966, 1968, 1976 and 1982. A full description of both sexes of H. dispar and H. dagamensis is provided. These two species can only be distinguished by means of the male's enlarged suckers on arm pair III. Females are not useful for taxonomic identifications and are morphologically identical in both species. The results do not support the definition of subgenera in this genus. This is the first report for Heteroteuthis dagamensis in the South-West Atlantic Ocean.
(Received September 15 2008)
(Accepted May 18 2009)
(Online publication January 14 2010)
c1 Correspondence should be addressed to: N. Rotermund & J. Guerrero-Kommritz, Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany emails: email@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.org