Range: Marine waters worldwide Habitat: Deep ocean Size: About 1 foot (30.48cm) long Diet: Unknown Threats: Fish, whales, seals, and sea lions Life span: Unknown; Estimated at about eight years

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about vampire squid. Feel free to subscribe for more content like this blood sucking request from gloria bermen. Okay, to be fair, these are probably the least blood sucking animals related to squid and octopuses that we know of. Although they have the name vampire squid, these squishy cephalopods are neither vampires or squid, though they kind of look like both. Vampire squid were first named so because they have a dark, almost black appearance, especially on their undersides.

Now, to be fair, most people know vampire squid from the pictures taken of them off the coast of California, and it has been noted that these individuals are specifically more red than others of their species, so that whole dark like a vampire idea sort of falls apart. Also, the first specimen observed were deceased and their eyes looked red, but in life vampire squid have blue eyes. Not very vampirey now is it? Well, guess it depends on your vampires...

Also, even though they’re called squid, they kind of look more like octopuses. Vampire squid have eight arms like an octopus and, also like an octopus, they don’t have the two tentacles found in squid. Vampire squid do, however, have extremely long appendages, often referred to as filaments, not present in either squid or octopuses, so they’re in an order all their own.

Vampire squid are found throughout the world’s oceans staying at depths of more than a mile (1,600 meters) below the ocean’s surface. Where they live, there’s no light, but that’s okay because these cephalopods produce their own. Vampire squid have lost the ability to produce ink or even change color like most of their relatives, but considering they live in the dark, there’s really no reason for them to have those adaptations. A bright pink color versus a lime green color is still going to look the same without light, so why bother even trying?

Though vampire squids aren’t able to produce ink, they can release mucousy clouds of bioluminescent material that can glow for more than nine minutes. These clouds are one of the vampire squids means of defense. They’re also able to produce light from the tips of their arms which they’ll then flail about to confuse a predator. Predators to vampire squid include deep diving fish, whales, and even seals and sea lions.

Apart from being difficult to spot in the darkness and producing confusing light, vampire squids can invert their arms and the webbing to take on what’s called the pineapple posture. This stance means their mantles are more effectively covered from attacks. When not fending off predators, vampire squid generally don’t move around much. They’ll release their long filaments one at a time in the water and on them catch detritus. These appendages can be fully retracted when not in use. A vampire squid’s body is roughly the size of a football… the weird oblong one, not the black and white one. They don’t start out this way, of course.

Female vampire squid release small clusters of eggs that have been fertilized by a male. The baby squid undergo changes as they develop including growing a new set of fins as they become adults. So those fins you see on the adult vampire squid in videos and pictures are most likely that vampire squid’s second pair! The first are reabsorbed as the vampire squid matures. These fins help with moving in the water. Even though vampire squid are mostly the consistency of jellyfish and don’t have much muscle, they’re thought to be able to move twice their body length in a single second for short distances, meaning you’d have to swim quickly to keep up with one of these cuties!

For more facts on vampire squid, check out the links in the description! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!