Physical Description
The cylindrical bodies of magister armhook squid are muscular with very soft reddish brown skin. Like all gonatids, the suckers of their arms are arranged in four rows or series. But unlike other gonatids it is in females only that the suckers are modified into hooks; these hooks are on the mesial rows of the dorsal arms only. The clubs at the end of both tentacles are covered in 20 rows of suckers; these are smaller in B. magister nipponensis.
The wing-like fins at the rear of the body are rather large and may reach up to 50 percent of the mantle length. The fins are also smaller in B. magister nipponensis.
B. magister magister is known to reach a mantle length of 25 centimetres; total body length may exceed 61 centimetres (2 feet). Both B. magister nipponensis and B. magister shevtsovi are somewhat smaller, with a maximum mantle length of 17-20 centimetres. Females are slightly larger than males.
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Ventral view
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Oral view
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Close-up of hooks
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Tentacular club
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Tentacular club
Read more about this topic: Berryteuthis Magister
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