| Banded Piglet Squid | |
|---|---|
| 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.
Contents |
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. 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.
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]