Pfeffer, 1900, s.l.
Mantle conical (or cylindrical in anterior and conical in posterior half). Arms with 2, tentacles with 4 rows of suckers, many of them transformed into hooks in adulthood (usually 2 rows on arms, 1 or 2 on tentacular club). Buccal membrane with 8 lappets, connectives to 4th arms attached dorsally. Funnel cartilage straight, elongated. Gladius with one widening in posterior half. Large, diverse, and very numerous (sometimes many hundreds) photophores on ventral side of eyeball, on the ventral mantle or inside of mantle cavity, sometimes on arms and tentacles. Three subfamilies, considered as separate families by many authors; 7-8 genera. Oceanic and nerito-oceanic pelagic squids. Six genera and 13 species in the South Atlantic.
Planctonic stages recorded for:
Enoploteuthis anapsis
Abralia redfieldi
Abraliopsis pfefferi
Abraliopsis gilchristi
Ancistrocheirus lesueurii
Pyroteuthis margaritifera
Pterygioteuthis giardi