The Littlest Squid

I've mentioned a couple of obscure "squids" here already, the bobtail squid (sepioids, actually more closely related to cuttlefish) and ram's horn squid (spirulids, which form their own evolutionary offshoot of decapods).

Today I am here to rhapsodize about another group that is little in every way--comprising only eight species, about which scant information is known, and which are the smallest squid in the world. By "small" I actually mean "minuscule." Adult pygmy squid can be smaller than your fingernail. Here's Idiosepius pygmaeus:

Is that not cute beyond your wildest dreams? That is, unless you have been dreaming about bobtail squid, of course.

And yes, it is stuck to a blade of seagrass. On purpose. With a special adhesive organ. Because that is what they do.

(Have I mentioned how much I love cephalopods?)

Old NID
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