| Summary: | 52 pages, 22 figures, 7 tables The systematics of the deep-sea cirrate octopod genus Opisthoteuthis Verrill in the Atlantic Ocean is reviewed. Comparisons, based on examination of all extant type material and new, reported and unreported material collected in recent years from the Atlantic, show the presence of five species: Opisthoteuthis agassizii Verrill 1883, O. grimaldii (Joubin, 1903), O. massyae (Grimpe, 1920) and two new species, O. calypso and O. hardyi, which are described. Opisthoteuthis agassizii, distributed only in the western North Atlantic, is redescribed, and a neotype is designated for the presumed lost holotype. Opisthoteuthis grimaldii, distributed in the East Atlantic and possibly also in the western North Atlantic, and O. massyae, distributed in the East Atlantic are also redescribed and junior synonyms listed. Opisthoteuthis calypso, found in the East Atlantic and O. hardyi, known only from a single specimen from the SW Atlantic are described. New morphometric data for O. agassizii, O. massyae and O. grimaldii are given. Illustrations, geographical distributions and a review of the biological information for all five species are provided. I. Rendall was responsible for all the artwork and his contribution is gratefully acknowledged. We are grateful to participants in the ARGOS GALICIA, BENGUELA, CAPE BRETON and RETRO cruises for their help collecting material, and specially to A. Urzelai for collecting type material of O.calypso. We are grateful to M. Vecchione and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on the manuscript. We wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance given during museum visits and/or in borrowing specimens by L. A. Allcock, Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh; C. Allué, Biological Collections, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar, Barcelona; R. Boucher-Rodoni, Musèum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; D. Hanisak, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Museum, Fort Pierce, Florida; F. C. Naggs, Natural History Museum, London; M. J. Sweeney, National Museum of Natural ...
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