While there are marine animals in the depths of the ocean that seem otherworldly, not all is as it seems. The vampire squid or Vampyroteuthis infernalis, by its scientific name, is a difficult species to appreciate because it inhabits deep waters; although its appearance may seem terrifying, it is much more fascinating.
Vampire Squid, the One That Thrives on Waste
Vampires are known for surviving on human blood, for being those handsome beings that conquer with their voice and seduce with their demeanor, and that have been living with humans for thousands of years. Unlike them, the vampire squid only shares being an animal over 100 years old living in the human world.
Despite its name and appearance, the Vampire Squid is not the terrifying and bloodthirsty monster of the deep that would come to mind, and despite being discovered nearly 100 years ago by marine biologists, it remains one of the most mysterious creatures in the ocean; why?
After its discovery, several researchers tried to study the mysterious creature; however, given that it lives more than 3,000 meters below the depths of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, and its scarcity of specimens, it becomes complex to investigate it.
So What Is Known?
The Vampire Squid was so named because of the reddish tones of its body, coupled with its huge blue eyes and fanged jaws.
It took more than 170 recordings, nearly 23 hours of filming, made during exploratory missions with remotely operated vehicles over the past 25 years, to recognize that this is the only cephalopod that does not feed on live prey.
- It can permanently and successfully inhabit areas of minimal oxygen.
- It ingests “marine snow,” as they call the remains of algae and animals that live in shallower waters and that, once dead, descend to the depths of the ocean.
- Covered with tiny hairs and a dense network of nerves, they are extremely sensitive to touch.
- This cephalopod, also known as a vampire octopus, is capable of generating light, and instead of ink, it expels bioluminescent mucus.
- It has the largest eye in the animal kingdom in proportion to its body size, despite living in abysmal areas where there is practically no light.
A Danger to Humanity?
The squid, about 30 centimeters long, lives in the survival limit zone of aerobic animals (900 meters deep), suspended almost inert in the water, capturing small particles of organic matter (called marine snow) to feed, so it is not a threat to humans.
Its body is gelatinous, and its color varies from deep black to pale reddish, depending on the location and light conditions. A layer of skin connects its eight arms, each lined with rows of fleshy spines or cirri; the inside of this “layer” is black.
This story was written in Spanish by Perla Vallejo in Ecoosfera