Cephalopoda

By Kir N. Nesis

Seventy-five South Atlantic cephalopd species are known of which larvae and juveniles have been recorded in the plankton. Identification of cephalopod larvae and juveniles is usually feasible only to the generic level because most key diagnostic characters appear in the subadult-adult stage.

Contents
Ce. 1 General characteristics of planktonic cephalopods
Ce. 2 Collection
Ce. 3 Fixation and preservation
Ce. 4 Geographic and vertical distribution
Ce. 5 Morphological characteristics of planktonic Cephalopoda
Ce. 6 Identification
Ce. 7 Tables
Ce. 8 Suggested reading

Identification
The section for young stages of South Atlantic cephalopods starts at Page 401: Cephalopoda and concerns a key to family level. From here the identification of the larvae and juveniles must be continued by comparing diagnoses; usually this is feasible only to the generic level because most diagnostic key-characters appear in the subadult-adult stage.

Species
See the page for Class Cephalopoda (and following pages) in the Higher taxa module. A South Atlantic species list can also be found on that page.

For the species, see pages Spirula spirula to Argonauta argo in the Species module.