Mad Lemurs

VITRELEDONELLA RICHARDI: the glass octopus

Habitat: tropical and subtropical seas || mesopelagic to bathypelagic zones

Bathypelagic zone – that part of the pelagic zone that extends from a depth of 1000 to 4000 metres (3300 to 13000 feet) below the ocean surface. The average temperature hovers at about 39 °F (4 °C). It is aphotic: sunlight does not reach this zone, meaning there can be no primary production. [Wikipedia]

Mesopelagic zone – that part of the pelagic zone that extends from a depth of 200 to 1000 metres (~660 to 3300 feet) below the ocean surface. This is the location of the thermocline, and in warmer regions of the world the temperatures varies from over 20 °C (68 °F) at the top to around 4 °C (39 °F) at the boundary with the bathypelagic zone. [Wikipedia]

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PHYLOGENY Eukaryotes  >  Animalia  >  Bilateria  >  Mollusca  >  Cephalopoda  > Octopodiformes  >  Octopoda  >  Octopodoidea  >  Incirrata  > Family: Vitreledonellidae Robson, 1932  >  Genus: Vitreledonella  > Species: Vitreledonella richardi Joubin, 1918

[sources: TOLweb and Wikipedia] _________________________________________

Acknowledgment to Pharyngula for posting a photo of Vitreledonella richardi as the January 10 2014 Friday Cephalopod.

Golden Gate Park in infrared.