SUPERFAMILY CRANCHIOIDEA PROSCH, 1847

(63 SPECIES)

Diagnosis: Small to massive adult-sized Oegopsida with modifications of the funnel–mantle locking apparatus; funnel–mantle locking apparatus reaching the anterior margin of the mantle; with two series of suckers in the arms; tentacle manus suckers usually in four series; mitochondrial gene trnM between rrnL and trnY in the following sequence: −rrnL −trnM − trnY −trnW −trnG −trnE.

Synonyms: The superfamilies Ommastrephoidea Steenstrup, 1857b and Thysanoteuthoidea Keferstein, 1866 were described in a different sense than in the present work: the superfamily Ommastrephoidea included Brachioteuthidae, Ommastrephidae and Thysanoteuthidae according to Berry (1920). However, owing to our criteria the families Ommastrephidae and Thysanoteuthidae are included within the superfamily Cranchioidea . We therefore consider the names Ommastrephoidea and Thysanoteuthoidea as junior synonyms of Cranchioidea .