Paralarvae (singular: ''paralarva'') are young

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

s in the planktonic stages between hatchling and subadult. This stage differs from the larval stage of animals that undergo true

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

. Paralarvae have been observed only in members of the orders Octopoda and Teuthida. The term was first introduced by Richard E. Young and Robert F. Harman in 1988. Paralarvae usually spend an uncertain amount of time in the plankton and then typically descend to an adult habitat in the mesopelagic or bathypelagic zone. Their population abundance is dependent on the variation of mortality rates during the planktonic period.

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