Cephalopoda
Identification

As mentioned earlier, 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. Identification of the young is further hampered by the fact that for many species these stages are still undescribed. In view of this, diagnoses in this review are provided usually for only one species of each genus known to occur in the South Atlantic, even when more than one species has been recorded in this basin. The remaining species of the genus are only listed and, occasionally, commented upon briefly, but their known distribution is detailed in the Tables (see Ce. 7 Tables). On the other hand, more than one species per genus is included when their larvae and/or juveniles have been adequately diagnosed and are morphologically different enough to allow positive recognition.

The diagnoses of the species are based primarily on subadult and adult stages, if these stages inhabit the pelagic realm. Larval and juvenile characters, when available, are presented as well. On the other hand, for those cephalopods whose adults are benthic only, the planktonic larvae and/or juveniles are diagnosed.

The section for young stages of coleoid cephalopods starts at Page 401: Cephalopoda and concerns a key to family level (modified from Sweeny et al., 1992). 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.