Hi all, can someone ID these two critters. I cant figure out if they're juveniles or pygmy squid. Found on two totally different spots in PNG.


Cor
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Hi all, can someone ID these two critters. I cant figure out if they're juveniles or pygmy squid. Found on two totally different spots in PNG.


Cor
The first one looks like a bobtail, maybe genus Eurymna. A small species, they hide in sand or mud during the day & come out to hunt & mate at night. The second seems to be a grass squid, a type of very small squid that has a glue gland near the tail & attaches itself to seagrass, seaweed, etc., then waits there hoping for small crustaceans & fish to cruise by.
The first one looks like a bobtail, maybe genus Eurymna. A small species, they hide in sand or mud during the day & come out to hunt & mate at night.
The first one was about the same size as the second one. Very small. Is that the size of a Eurymna?
Cor
Euprymna (I mispelled it before, sorry) species average about 20-30 mm; the largest are about 50 mm. The grass or pygmy glue squids - genus Idiosepius - max out at 30 mm but the smallest are reproductive at about 10 mm.
Euprymna have glue glands too but use them differently. As they dig into the bottom they use the glands to attach sand over their entire bodies for camoflague. When they move out the sand coat is left behind.
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