Ram's horn squid
Spirula spirula
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 141548, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Ram's horn squid
- Scientific
- Spirula spirula
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Maximum size
- Up to about 4.5 cm (mantle length)
- Depth and habitat
- Open ocean (pelagic), recorded from 100 to 1750 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
The ram's horn squid is a small, deep-sea squid, a few centimetres long, that lives in mid-water far offshore and rises towards the surface at night. It keeps a coiled, chambered shell inside its body to control buoyancy. In the Maldives the white, spiral shells are commonly found washed up on beaches, but the living animal is almost never seen.
In the Maldives
Shell found on beaches: iNaturalist records in the Maldives are almost all drift shells. Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=13); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=13, 12 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Spirula-spirula.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141548
- inaturalist.org /taxa/85107
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Concha_interna_de_Spirula_spirula.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.