G. bathynectes is known from the 13 specimens reported in the type description. They were captured in bottom trawls during a study of the fauna of the continental slope and the Tufts and Cascadia Abyssal Plains.

1. Arms and web
   1. Arms subequal, with arms IV generally shortest.
   2. Web formula, variable, usually ABCDE.
   3. Web on dorsal arm margin extends nearly to arm tip.
   4. Web nodule present on ventral margin of each arm near, at or nearly at the termination of the web.
   

   Figure. Oral view of left arm I of G. bathynectes, male, 50 mm ML. Drawing from O'Shea (1999).

2. Suckers
   1. Dorsal arms with 47-58 suckers.
   2. Sucker arrangement: first 4-5 suckers small or minute, followed abruptly by larger suckers that increase in size over first third of arm length, then gradually decrease to tip.
   3. Sexual dimorphism in suckers: Males - largest sucker diameter 4.3-6.7% of ML, shape globular; females - largest sucker diameter 2.6 -3.5% of ML, shape tubular.
   4. Cirri short: length 0.7 - 1.5 x largest sucker diameter.
   5. First cirri between suckers 3 and 4.
   

   Figure. Arm suckers and cirri of G. bathynectes. Female, 58 mm ML; male, 42 mm ML. Drawings from O'Shea (1999).

3. Shell
   1. "...U-shaped, formed of rounded-edged flat strip that tapers to a thin flat point distally."
   2. "Fin insertions long and form slight angle near base with rounded apex."
   

   Figure. Dorsal view of shell and lateral view of wing of G. bathynectes, male, 53 mm ML. Drawings from O'Shea (1999).

Comments

The above description is taken from Voss and Pearcy, 1990. More details of the description of G. bathynectes can be found here.

Among Pacific species, G. bathynectes differs from:

• G. abyssicola in having fewer suckers (58 vs 77; web nodule at sucker 26 vs 32-34), shorter cirri (1.5 vs 2.5 x largest sucker diam.), position of first cirri (3-4 vs 4-6), shell shape (lateral arm of shell not expanded vs lobelike), anterior salivary present vs absent.
• G. tuftsi in having sexual dimorphism in sucker shape, less elongate gills, shorter cirri, absence of enlarged suckers near web nodules and no radula (Voss and Pearcy, 1990).
• G. innominata in the lack of peculiar features of the shell and, possibly, a shorter gill (half-orange vs semi-sepioid).
• G. hippocrepium by no clear characters other than locality.
• G. meangensis by, apparently, the lack of large shoulder blades on the shell.
• G. pacifica in having more suckers (77 vs 52).

East North Pacific

G. bathynectes is known only from the Tufts and Cascadia Abyssal Plains in the North Pacific off Oregon. The type locality is 45°01.1'N, 135°12.0'W, 3932 m.

Holotype for Grimpoteuthis bathynectes Voss & Pearcy, 1990
Catalog Number: USNM 730715
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology
Sex/Stage: male;
Preparation: Isopropyl Alcohol
Year Collected: 1972
Locality: Tufts Abyssal Plain, Oregon, United States, North Pacific Ocean
Depth (m): 3932 to 3932
Vessel: Yaquina R/V

abyssal

Depth range based on 1 specimen in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 1 sample.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 3932 - 3932
  Temperature range (°C): 1.537 - 1.537
  Nitrate (umol/L): 37.687 - 37.687
  Salinity (PPS): 34.683 - 34.683
  Oxygen (ml/l): 3.028 - 3.028
  Phosphate (umol/l): 2.754 - 2.754
  Silicate (umol/l): 181.504 - 181.504
 
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