Decapodiformes

Not to be confused with Decapoda.

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]
Synonyms
Decembrachiata Winckworth, 1932

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.

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
• Sepiolida – bobtail and bottletail squid
• Spirulida – ram's horn squid

Phylogeny

Molecular analyses consistently showed that the order Teuthida is invalid as its two constituent subgroups do not form a clade that did not exclude other decapodiform orders. Thus, Teuthida is presently considered an invalid order due to lack of monophyly. ^[4]

Maximum Likelihood (ML) cladogram from Uribe & Zardoya 2017, based on complete mt genomes (protein-coding genes analysed at nucleotide level plus rRNA genes): ^[5]

Sepiida  (outgroup)	Sepia apama Sepia latimanus
	Idiosepiida Idiosepius sp. Idiosepiidae Sepiolida Semirossia patagonica Sepiolidae Myopsida ⊞ Loliginidae ⊟ Sepioteuthis lessoniana Doryteuthis opalescens Heterololigo bleekeri Uroteuthis duvaucelii Loliolus beka Loliolus uyii Uroteuthis edulis Uroteuthis chinensis Bathyteuthoidea Bathyteuthis abyssicola Bathyteuthidae Spirulida Spirula spirula Oegopsida ⊞3 families analyzed ⊟ Architeuthidae Architeuthis dux Enoploteuthidae Watasenia scintillans Ommastrephidae Illex argentinus Todarodes pacificus Ommastrephes bartramii Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis Dosidicus gigas

The following cladogram is based on a RAxML maximum likelihood phylogram from Anderson & Lindgren 2021: ^[6]

Octopodiformes	⊞ ⊟ Vampyroteuthis infernalis Cirroctopus glacialis Octopus bimaculoides Pareledone albimaculata
Decapodiformes	Idiosepiida Idiosepius notoides Sepiolida ⊞ ⊟ Euprymna scolopes Euprymna tasmanica Sepioloidea lineolata Sepiadarium austrinum Oegopsida ⊞ ⊟ Galiteuthis armata Todarodes pacificus Dosidicus gigas Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis Onychoteuthis banksii Architeuthis dux Chiroteuthis calyx Octopoteuthis deletron Pterygioteuthis hoylei Watasenia scintillans Sepiida ⊞ ⊟ Sepia esculenta Metasepia pfefferi Sepia pharaonis Sepia officinalis Sepiella japonica Sepiella maindroni Myopsida ⊞ ⊟ Sepioteuthis lessoniana Uroteuthis edulis Loligo vulgaris Heterololigo bleekeri Doryteuthis pealei Lolliguncula brevis

References

1. see Boletzkyida, Belemnite
2. Young, R. E., Vecchione, M., Mangold, K. M. (2008). Decapodiformes Leach, 1817. Squids, cuttlefishes and their relatives. in The Tree of Life Web Project
3. "WoRMS – World Register of Marine Species – Decapodiformes". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
4. Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Teuthida Naef, 1916". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2025-07-24.
5. Uribe, Juan E.; Zardoya, Rafael (3 February 2017). "Revisiting the phylogeny of Cephalopoda using complete mitochondrial genomes". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 83 (2): 133–144. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyw052.
6. Anderson, Frank E.; Lindgren, Annie R. (March 2021). "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Phylogenomic analyses recover a clade of large-bodied decapodiform cephalopods". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 156. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107038.

Further reading

• Young, Richard E.; Vecchione, Michael; Donovan, Desmond T. (1998). "The evolution of coleoid cephalopods and their present biodiversity and ecology" . South African Journal of Marine Science. 20 (1): 393–420. doi:10.2989/025776198784126287. abstract

External links

• CephBase: Decapodiformes
• The Taxonomicon: Superorder Decapodiformes