The present work resolved the long-standing taxonomic problem associated with the enigmatic ?Mastigoteuthis B Clarke, 1980, by demonstrating that these lower beaks correspond to those of the large deep-sea chiroteuthid Asperoteuthis acanthoderma (Lu, 1977). A review of the existing literature listed 22 specimens of A. acanthoderma, but synonymizing ?Mastigoteuthis B with A. acanthoderma increased 14 times the species record worldwide. Pooling the data from both specimens and beaks (a total of 329 individuals) indicates that the species has a circumglobal distribution, since it occurs in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The synonymization also highlights trophic relationships of the species as a prey of top marine predators. Lower beaks of A. acanthoderma were mostly found in stomachs of sperm whales, but a few beaks were also recorded from stomach contents of sharks, swordfish and the wandering albatross.

目前的工作解决了与谜题有关的长期分类问题。Mastigoteuthis B Clarke，1980，通过证明这些较低的喙与大型深海手足类十二指肠菌Asperoteuthis acanthoderma的喙相对应（Lu，1977）。对现有文献的回顾列出了22种棘皮棘皮棘皮动物标本，但它们是同义词吗？Mastigoteuthis B与棘皮棘皮病增长了全球物种记录的14倍。收集来自标本和喙的数据（总共329个个体）表明，该物种具有全球分布，因为它发生在大西洋，印度洋和太平洋的热带和亚热带水域。同义词还强调了该物种与顶级海洋捕食者的猎物之间的营养关系。棘皮拟南芥的下喙多见于抹香鲸的胃中，但鲨鱼，箭鱼和流浪信天翁的胃中也有少量喙。