Mantle conical, 3.5 cm long, with sagittate fins posteriorly. Arms with 2 rows of suckers of which several proximal ones may change into hooks and become 4 rows of minute suckers distally. Left ventral arm in male hectocotylized, with a pair of fleshy flaps near distal tip. Tentacular club bears 4 hooks and dorsal membrane. Ventral surfaces of mantle, head and arms are scattered by small photophores. Optic vesicule with 5 photophores of which terminal two prominently larger than medial 3.
Distribution:
Temperate to tropical regions of the Atlantic including Gulf of Mexico and off Suriname.
Remarks:
There are several species apparently similar. The arrangement and numbers of photophores of the body surface and optic vesicules, tentacular armatures and morphology of hectocotylus are major characters for identification to species.