Roper, 1964
Mantle wide in larvae and juveniles, later narrow and with soft tail in adults. Fin tongue-like in larvae, oval in juveniles, in adults transversely diamond-shaped, not reaching tip of mantle. Arms long, with 2 rows of hooks in adults. Tentacles strong, robust, much longer than arms, club in larvae and juveniles with 4 rows of suckers (in juveniles central ones larger than marginal), in adults with 2 rows of very unequal hooks (5-7 in a row), without marginal suckers.
Photophores in 6 straight longitudinal rows anteroventrally on mantle; 8 longitudinal rows on ventral side of head (central row only partial, in anterior half, 1st and 2nd lateral rows joined at the bases of ventral arms and anterior to the margin of funnel pit); 8-10 closely spaced photophores on ventral side of eyeball, marginal rather large, others approx. equal; 3 longitudinal rows on ventral arms; one incomplete row on 3rd arms, reaching only midlength. Early larvae not easily distinguishable from Abralia, later ones identified by the pattern of photophores and long robust tentacles without marginal suckers. Egg size supposedly about 1.0 mm. ML up to 8 cm.
Another Atlantic species, Enoploteuthis( Enoploteuthis) leptura (Leach, 1817), is distinguished from Enoploteuthis anapsis by its thin, rather short tentacles and the photophore pattern (7 longitudinal rows on the anteroventral mantle and 10 on the ventral side of the head, 1st and 2nd not joined).