Nectocaris

Nectocaris is a genus of squid-like animal known from the Cambrian period. The initial fossils were described from the Burgess Shale of Canada. Other similar remains possibly referrable to the genus are known from the Emu Bay Shale of Australia and Chengjiang Biota of China.

Nectocaris was a free-swimming, predatory or scavenging organism. This lifestyle is reflected in its binomial name: Nectocaris means "swimming shrimp" (from the Ancient Greek , ', meaning "swimmer" and , ', "shrimp"). Two morphs are known: a small morph, about an inch long, and a large morph, anatomically identical but around four times longer.