Indie Squid Kid

Nautilus, originally uploaded by PacificKlaus.

Fun fact: The eyes of the Chambered Nautilus are much more primitive than their Coleoid relatives (i.e. squids, cuttlefish, and octopuses), functioning like pinhole cameras.

Also, you should definitely check out PacificKlaus’ Flickr stream for more amazing underwater photos!

Inside the deep blue…., originally uploaded by hendradive.

I write a lot about squids and octopuses here, but let’s not forget the lonely and majestic Nautilus. One has to travel to the Indo-Pacific to see a living Nautilus in its natural habitat, the deep slopes of coral reefs. Only six Nautilus species remain, the last representatives of a cephalopod group that has existed since the late Cambrian period (~500 million years ago).

And so International Cephalopod Awareness Day part 2 draws to a close…and yet I am still working on my big Octopus Day post! If I could stop coughing, I’m sure it things would go faster…