Table 1 in Two new genera and species of sepioline squids (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) from Australia

Table 1. Comparison of distinguishing characters of subfamilies Heteroteuthinae, Rossiinae and Sepiolinae of the family Sepiolidae (after Nesis, 1982)
HeteroteuthinaeRossiinaeSepiolinaeAnterior ventral mantle edgeextended into projecting ventral shield covering funnel from below and sometimes reaching level of eyes or farther forward; ventral shield with an incision in centre for funnel openingnot extended forward, not covering funnelnot extended forward, not covering funnelAnterior dorsal mantle edgefused with head, except in Heteroteuthisnot fused with headfused with headNuchal cartilagedeveloped in Heteroteuthis; absent in other generadevelopedno nuchal cartilageArms connected by web3 dorsal pairs of arms joined by deep web2 dorsal pairs of arms not connected or connected only by shallow web2 dorsal pairs of arms not connected or connected only by shallow webArm suckersin 2 series; some suckers on lateral arms in males in some taxa greatly enlargedin 2 or 4 series; no greatly enlarged suckersin 2 or 4 series; some suckers in males maybe enlargedClubnarrow or slightly widened, with very small suckersnarrow or widened, with very small, medium or large suckersnarrow or slightly widened, with small suckersFinslarge, fin length 60–100% of mantle lengthmoderate size, much shorter than mantlemoderate size, much shorter than mantlePhotophoreson ventral side of ink saconly one genus, Semirossia, is known to have a bilobed photophore on ink sacsaddle-shaped, two ear-shaped, lens-shaped or absent (Inioteuthis)Hectocotylisationusually both dorsal arms hectocotylisedleft or both dorsal arms hectocotylisedleft dorsal arm hectocotylisedGladiusabsentpresentrudimentary or absentHabitatbenthic or pelagicbenthic, some species ascend to surface during reproductionbenthic, some species ascend to surface during reproduction