Description
Mastigoteuthids range in size from quite small species in the genus Mastigoteuthis, to relatively gigantic sizes in the genus Idioteuthis. However most are rather small, from 3–15 centimetres total mantle length. Their most distinctive features are their extremely elongate tentacles—which retract into membranous lateral sheaths of the fourth (and largest) arms—and their very large ovate fins, which may occupy up to 80% of the mantle length in some species. It is from these 'whip-like' tentacles that their common name derives. Unlike most other squid, the club of the mastigoteuthid tentacle is not significantly (usually not at all) broader than the rest of the tentacle and is covered in very small suckers—in some species, invisible to the naked eye—which impart an extremely sticky property to the clubs, themselves answering for 70% or more of the tentacle's length in some species.
Many species also possess photophores (bioluminescent organs) which may be located on either the body, the tentacular clubs, the surface of the eye, or the eyelid. These photophores have a "lens" of chromatophores, pigment cells which may allow the squid to modify the colour of the light produced by the photophores. The mantle of some species is adorned with conical or hemispherical tubercles. Most species have arm suckers that possess sharp or blunt conical teeth, which are either larger or present only on the distal side, however some species, such as Mastigoteuthis inermis, have smooth sucker rings with no teeth at all. Coloration is typically a rich reddish brown.
Two species (Idioteuthis tyroi and I. cordiformis) are known to have greatly expanded tentacular clubs as paralarvae and subadults.
Read more about this topic: Whip-lash Squid
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