Here are the answers to yesterday's questions:

1. The two contenders for World's Smallest Baby Cephalopod are ommastrephid squid (the family that includes Humboldt squid) and argonaut octopuses. Both groups have paralarvae that hatch at less than one millimeter!

2. Mucus can actually be used for nutrition, by collecting particles of food. This method is well-studied in larvaceans and pteropods, and Dr. Erica Vidal, a Brazilian researcher, believes it may be used by ommastrephid squid as well.

3. According to Arminda Mejia-Rebollo, a Mexican graduate student, various features of a Humboldt squid's beak could be used to identify the animal's sex, age, and maturity. Wow!

Old NID
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