Described by Young, Vecchione and Roper, 2007
Page authors: Richard E. Young, Michael Vecchione, and Clyde F. E. Roper

The upper member of the featured images above, shows the expanded secondary fin(s) of the tail (the tail may have two sets of secondary fins (as suggested by this image) with the smaller, darker one at the posterior end of the tail) with a striped, elliptical leaf-shaped appearance. This squid was observed swimming close to the ocean floor at 930 m depth on the Jarvis Seamount (at the equator about 160º West), from an ROV operated by the E/V (Exploration Vessel) Nautilus. The squid was not captured. The lower video clip shows (to the surprise of everyone involved at the time (i.e., July 2019)) that the secondary fins could mostly disappear (in about 10 seconds) by collapsing onto the extended rod-like gladius of the tail; the complete collapse takes a bit longer, the lower image was photographed about 1 minute after the upper image. The video can be seen here. Prior to this short video of the living squid, our knowledge Asperoteuthis mangoldae was based on the examination of of a limited number of preserved specimens. It appears to be the smallest member of the genus (a mature male is known with a ML of 100 mm; no mature females have been found). The species is very fragile, with a gelatinous consistency similar to that of Grimalditeuthis bonplandi. A. mangoldae is very different from other members of the genus, especially in features of the tentacle club, funnel-mantle locking apparatus and absence of skin tubercules (see the Asperoteuthis page for a comparison between the three species).


Figure 2. A. mangoldae. Left: Dorsal view, paratype, 100, mm ML, mature male, preserved, © R. Young. Right: Holotype (NMNH 729749), ventral view, 80 mm ML, immature male, drawing by A. Hart, © C. F. E. Roper.

Very few A. mangoldae have been captured with the clubs attached as the long, thin tentacles are easily broken off during capture. With tentacles missing, this species can be confused with Grimalditeuthis bomplandi in its general shape and consistency. However, many differences easily separate them including presence of the funnel-mantle fusion and three large papillae on each arm-sucker base in G. bomplandi.

Figure 4. Frontal views of the funnel-mantle locking apparatus of A. mangoldae. Funnel (left) and mantle (right) components, 100 mm ML, mature male, paratype, stained with methylene blue. They are very fragile; the mantle component is damaged a bit at its posterior end. Photographs by R. Young.
More details of the description can be found here.
A. mangoldae possesses a large secondary tail but a specimen with an attached tail has not been captured.

Figure 5. The drawing is a reconstruction based on the collection of a damaged tail in the same midwater tow with a small (80 mm ML) A. mangoldae. The tail did not match the broken end of the gladius from the specimen indicating that a piece of the tail was missing. Tentacular clubs, missing from specimen, were added to drawing. Drawing by A. Hart.

Figure. The photograph shows the expanded secondary fin of the tail of a large Asperoteuthis from the same Hawaiian locality as in Fig. 5 and possibly belonging to a large A. mangoldae although the shape differs greatly from that of the small specimen above; however it looks similar to that in the featured image.
In addition to the features listed in the Diagnosis, A. mangoldae differs from A. acanthoderma in (1) the weaker consistency of the arms and mantle, (2) the dentition of the arm (6-10 vs 3-4) and club (25 vs 9 teeth) suckers, (3) the smaller and more circular terminal club photophore, (4) the longer terminal papilla on the club and (5) the broader fins (width ca 115% of length vs ca 75% of length). In addition, the club suckers of A. acanthoderma are on shorter stalks, the sucker rings are more elongated in the oral-aboal directiion and suckers of arms [[ This paragraph should be in the Asperoteuthis page ]]
Vertical distribution.

Figure. Vertical distribution chart of A. mangoldae. Captures were made with both open and opening/closing trawls. Bars - fishing depth-range of opening/closing trawl. Circle - Modal fishing depth for either trawl. Yellow-filled circles - Day capture.[/caption]
Off Hawaii only eight specimens were captured during this study. All were captured during the day at depths between 775 and 975 m. The absence of captures in the heavily sampled waters from 0-400m depth at night suggests that this species is a deep living, non-vertical migrator. Geographical distribution. Type locality: Hawaiian waters at 21°25'N, 158°20.5'W. The holotype was captured in an opening-closing trawl between 820 and 870 m depth during the day (1411-1616 hrs). This species is presently known only from the waters off the Hawaiian Islands.
Largest arm suckers with ca. 9 truncated teeth on distal half of ring.









Figure. Aboral view of the club of A. mangoldae. Top - NMNH 729749, holotype. Drawing by A. Hart. Bottom - Distal portion of club, holotype, preserved. Photograph by R. Young.



| Holotype NMNH 729749 | Clarke 70-12-31 | Clarke 70-12-31 | Clarke 70-12-31 | Paratype SBMNH 369535 | |
| Sex | Imm. male | -- | -- | -- | Mature male |
| Mantle length | 80 | 128 | 120 | 82 | 100 |
| Fin length | 30 | 56 | 55 | 34 | 53 |
| Fin width | 37 | 72 | 66 | 39 | 67 |
| Eye diameter | Damaged | Damaged | Damaged | Damaged | ca. 17 |
| Arm I, length | 33 | 76 | 69 | 44 | 65 |
| Arm II, length | 41 | 86 | 73 | 46 | 75 |
| Arm III, length | 40 | 85 | 79 | 48 | 72 |
| Arm IV, length | 70 | 100 | 90+ | 95 | 86 |
| Club length | 15 | Missing | Missing | Missing | Missing |
Paralarvae of A. mangoldae from off Hawaii have been described by Young, 1991. The young stages are very similar to those of Chiroteuthis picteti in the virtual lack of a brachial pillar and the centrally located esophagus. It differs, however, by:

Young, R. E. 1978. Vertical distribution and photosensitive vesicles of pelagic cephalopods from Hawaiian waters. Fish. Bull., 76: 583-615.
Young, R. E., M. Vecchione and C. F. E. Roper. 2007. A new genus and three new species of decapodiform cephalopods (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). Rev. Fish. Biol. Fisheries, 17: 353-365.