Norman, Mark D., Hochberg, F. G. and Lu, C. C. (1997) Mollusca Cephalopoda : mid-depth octopuses (200-1000 m) of the Banda and Arafura Seas (Octopodidae and Alloposidae). In: Résultats des campagnes MUSORSTOM. ; 16 , ed. by Crosnier, Alain and Bouchet, Philippe. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 172 . Éd. du Muséum, Paris, pp. 357-383. ISBN 2-85653-506-2

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Abstract

Six mid-depth octopuses of the Order Octopoda are reported from the Banda and Arafura Seas off Indonesia and northern Australia, based on material collected through the collaborative French-Indonesian KARUBAR cruise of 1991.
Octopod material was collected through benthic trawls at 18 of 91 stations, at depths between 199 and 869 metres. Two new species are described here, Benthoctopus karubar sp. nov. and Octopus pyrum sp. nov. An additional species of the genus Octopus is reported as indeterminate but distinct from 0. pyrum. The genus Pteroctopus is reported from lndo-Pacific waters for the first time, based on female material collected through the KARUBAR cruise and linked with additional male material collected off New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Eledone palari is recorded as a northerly extension to the Australian distribution reported in the original description for this species. A single submature female of the pelagic octopod, Haliphron atlanticus (previously treated under the name Alloposus mollis), is also reported from the region. The depth distributions and phylogenetic affinities of this fauna are discussed.

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