Decapodiformes

Not to be confused with Decapoda.

Decapodiformes is a superorder of Cephalopoda comprising all cephalopod species with ten limbs, specifically eight short arms and two long tentacles. It is hypothesized that the ancestral coleoid had five identical pairs of limbs, and that one branch of descendants evolved a modified arm pair IV to become the Decapodiformes, while another branch of descendants evolved and then eventually lost its arm pair II, becoming the Octopodiformes.

Decapodiformes Temporal range: Early Devonian – Recent[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Planktonic cranch squid paralarva, Antarctica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Division:	Neocoleoidea
Superorder:	Decapodiformes Leach, 1817[2]
Orders
See text
Synonyms
Decembrachiata Winckworth, 1932

Taxonomy

The following orders are recognised in the superorder Decapodiformes:^[3]

• Bathyteuthida
• †Belemnitida
• †Diplobelida
• Idiosepida – pygmy squid
• Myopsida – coastal squid
• Oegopsida – neritic squid
• Sepiida – cuttlefish, bobtail and bottletail squid
• Spirulida – ram's horn squid