Banded Piglet Squid
| Banded Piglet Squid | |
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| Ventral view of a specimen taken off Southern California (41 mm ML) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Teuthida |
| Family: | Cranchiidae |
| Genus: | Helicocranchia |
| Species: | H. pfefferi |
| Binomial name | |
| Helicocranchia pfefferi Massy, 1907 |
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The Banded Piglet Squid (Helicocranchia pfefferi) is a small squid of the genus Helicocranchia. Adults of this species are mesopelaegic.
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[edit] Physical characteristics
The average size of adult H. pfefferi is 100 mm in mantle length (ML). The body consists of a large funnel with small paddle-like fins. They have small tentacles above their eyes. The funnel does not have valves but contains a dorsal pad with three papillae as organs.[citation needed] Paddle-shaped fins are attached to a part of the gladius. H. pfefferi has a single ocular photophore and does not have photophores at its arm tips.
[edit] Habitat
As paralarvae (<30 mm ML), they live near the surface of the oceans, between 100 m and 200 m deep. They descend to the mesopelagic zone as they mature, but do not exhibit a diel vertical migration pattern. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Lu, C.C. & M.R. Clarke (1975). "Vertical Distribution of Cephalopods at 11° N 20° W in the North Atlantic". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 55 (2): 369–389. doi:10.1017/S0025315400016003.
- Young, R.E. & K.M. Mangold (1922-2003). 2006. Helicocranchia Massy, 1907. Version 16 July 2006 (under construction). In: The Tree of Life Web Project.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Helicocranchia pfefferi |
