#idiosepius

[sarahmackattack]

Good morning and a very merry Squidtember to you all.

Let's discuss the pygmy squid.

They're the smallest squid, and while they are only the size of a fingernail clipping, they're cool as shit and deserve lots of attention.

They are able to secrete glue from their skin and then stick themselves to whatever they want. Algae/seaweed/stalks of stuff usually. I like to call them the post-it notes of the sea.

They also squirt out ink in blobs, hide behind that ink cloud, and then POUNCE through that to grab prey. How sick is that? Little sneaky petes I tell you what.

[todropscience]

TINY ´SQUID´ SPECIES DISCOVERED IN MUSEUM COLLECTION

First found among the collections of the Australian Museum in Sydney, a new species of pygmy squid from eastern Australia has just been described. 

Although not true 'squids', these tiny creatures coined their common name from their general squid-like appearance and tiny size. Named pygmy squid (Idiosepius hallami), and smaller than 2 cm in body length (excluding the head, arms and tentacles), these diminutive squids are the smallest cephalopods known.

They are found throughout the Indo-Pacific from Australia, through to Thailand and Japan as well as the Indian Ocean side of southern Africa, in seagrass beds and mangroves—among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. So an increased understanding of these habitats and their associated fauna is of high importance.

Photo:  Pygmy Squid (Idiosepius hallami) by B. Reid/Australian Museum.

Reference: Reid et al. 2018. A new pygmy squid, Idiosepius hallami n. sp. (Cephalopoda: Idiosepiidae) from eastern Australia and elevation of the southern endemic ‘notoides’ clade to a new genus, Xipholeptos n. gen. Zootaxa

[sarahmackattack]

Cephalopod of the day:

Ready for your #CephOfTheDay?! It's the pygmy squid!

These squid are tiny- like <2cm/<1inch! 

They stick themselves to blades of seagrass, so they're basically the post-it notes of the squid world. 

Also they're goofy swimmers, check it out! This video gets particularly good around 3:30