Piglet squid

The Piglet squid is a species of squid known by the scientific name Helicocranchia pfefferi . By judging the body structure you can tell it has some similar qualities with most squids. The fact that the Piglet Squid lives so far down in the ocean not much is known about it. The facts that are known about it are very interesting. The moment you look at the Piglet Squid you think it's the cutest thing. You will never be able to forget, 'That one thing that looks like a balloon!'

Body Design
The body design of the Piglet Squid is very unique. Some find the squid super cute because of its different body structure from the rest of the squids. The average mantle length is around 100 mm(3.9in) of an adult Helicocranchia pfefferi. The H. pfefferi has a large funnel with small paddle-like fins. The funnel doesn't have valves. The galdius is where the paddle-shaped fins are connected to the rest of the body. Some characteristics are that the mantle doesn't contain Papillae. The arms have suckers in the middle. They have bands on the side of the mantle that are formed my orange and brown chromatophores, that make up the pigmentation. The H.pfefferi have small tentacles above their eyes. They also have a single ocular photophore, but doesn't have photophores at arm tips.

Life Cycle
Short finned squids don't live as long as the long finned squids. Long finned squids grow into maturity from three to five years, but the short finned squids don't live longer than 12-18 months according to Marine Biologists. Females, during spawning season hatch approximately 100,000 eggs, and take mostly around two weeks to hatch. Once they hatch, they grow in to the larval form, then the juvenile larval stage, and towards the end of its life is the full grown squid form.

The mating session between the male and female squid doesn't last long, it takes around 15 seconds. The males long arms carry sore packets of sperm that are know as spermatophores. The squids prefer to spawn in groups. The female delivers on average 11 pounds of eggs.Some squids confidently leave their eggs at the seafloor and others want to keep them close and protect which means they carry hand fulls of eggs in their arms. Adult squids die off shortly after mating.

Not much is known on the [life cycle]] of the Piglet Squids specifically. The reason is because it lives so deep down in the ocean not much is investigated about it.

Ecology
Before the Helicocranchia pfefferi become mesopelagic, they are in the paralarval stage. When they are in this stage, they are almost at the very surface of the ocean. Once the H.pfefferi is a mature adult they are mesopelagic. They do not participate in a diel vertical migration pattern like many squid who migrate daily to shallow and deep waters. Once the H.pfefferi is a full adult they start to live in water 320 feet deep. Not many biologist know the exact location of where these Piglet Squids live, but it is known that they are most likely living deeper than humans can discover.

Unique Facts
The body structure of the Piglet squid is very similar to a shape of an avocado or an inflated balloon. In the water, the piglet squid has the tendency of swelling up. This specific type of squid is well known for swimming upside-down. The body fluid in the Piglet Squid's body contains ammonium ions that help the squid to stay buoyant or a float. Scientist, had the inclination to name the squid like this because of the odd place the siphon is located. The Piglet Squid also has unique 'tuft' of eight arms and two tentacles.

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