Description
Vampyroteuthis infernalis
Date 1910
Source from Thiele in Chun, C. 1910. Die Cephalopoden. http://www.archive.org/stream/diecephalopoden182chun#page/n273/mode/2up
Author Carl Chun
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vampyroteuthis_infernalis.jpg

The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis, lit. "vampire squid from Hell") is a small, deep-sea cephalopod found throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world. Unique retractile sensory filaments justify the vampire squid's placement in its own order: Vampyromorphida (formerly Vampyromorpha), which shares similarities with both squid and octopodes. As a phylogenetic relict it is the only known surviving member of its order, first described and originally classified as an octopus in 1903 by German teuthologist Carl Chun, but later assigned to a new order together with several extinct taxa.
Order: Vampyromorphida
Family: Vampyroteuthidae
Genus: Vampyroteuthis
Species: Vampyroteuthis infernalis Chun, 1903
Synonyms:
Cirroteuthis macrope Berry, 1911
Vampyroteuthis macrope (Berry, 1911)
Melanoteuthis lucens Joubin, 1912
Watasella nigra Sasaki, 1920
Danateuthis schmidti Joubin, 1929
Hansenoteuthis lucens Joubin, 1929
Melanoteuthis schmidti Joubin, 1929
Melanoteuthis beebei Robson, 1929
Retroteuthis pacifica Joubin, 1929
Melanoteuthis anderseni Joubin, 1931