Argonauta †Izumonauta †Kapal †Mizuhobaris †Obinautilus The Argonautidae are a family of pelagic cephalopods that inhabit tropical and temperate oceans of the world.

The family encompasses the modern paper nautiluses of the genus Argonauta along with several extinct genera of shelled octopods.

[1] The family is characterised by brittle white shells constructed by the females, but which the dwarf male argonauts lack.

The shell also plays the role of a buoyancy device, which the female controls by varying the amount of gulped air.

[2] All eggcases possessing nodes, ribs, and a double keel, with the exception of those of fossil Kapal batavus, have been assigned to Argonauta.