This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
Incirrata | |
---|---|
An octopus active during the night in the coastal waters of northern East Timor | |
An unidentified octopus observed on East Scotia Ridge at a depth of 2,394 m (scale bar: 10 cm)[1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Cephalopoda |
Order: | Octopoda |
Suborder: | Incirrata Grimpe, 1916 |
Families | |
| |
Synonyms | |
|
Incirrata (or Incirrina) is a suborder of the order Octopoda. The suborder contains the classic "benthic octopuses," as well as many pelagic octopus families, including the paper nautiluses. The incirrate octopuses are distinguished from the cirrate octopuses by the absence in the former of the "cirri" filaments (found with the suckers) for which the cirrates are named, as well as by the lack of paired swimming fins on the head, and lack of a small internal shell (the "shell" of Argonauta species is not a true shell, but a thin calcite egg case).