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| Vampire Squid, Inhabitants of the Sea in Darkness Protected by Light (source) |
Vampire Squid, Inhabitants of the Sea in Darkness Protected by Light. The vampire squid or in scientific language Vampyroteuthis infernalis is a type of marine animal whose appearance looks like a cross between a squid and an octopus.
Like the squid, the vampire squid has a pair of fins on its tail. However, like the octopus, the vampire squid has a body that tends to be rounded and has 8 arms that are not equipped with long tentacles.
Due to its physical uniqueness, scientists were initially confused about determining the position of the vampire squid in scientific classification.
Vampire Squid, Inhabitants of the Sea in Darkness Protected by Light
When first identified by scientists in 1903, the vampire squid was originally classified as a type of octopus. Today, however, vampire squid are placed in a separate order from the order of squids and octopuses: the order Vampyromorphida.
The vampire squid has 8 arms which are connected to each other by a kind of membrane or piece of flesh. Combined with a dark body and eyes that appear red (or blue, depending on the shining light), the vampire squid looks like a vampire-cloaked monster with bright red eyes. Therefore, the animal in question was also given the name "Vampire".
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| Vampire Squid, Inhabitants of the Sea in Darkness Protected by Light |
The vampire squid also has a pair of filaments, long thread-like arms. Like the tentacles of squid and cuttlefish, the vampire squid can pull its filaments into its arms.
Filaments have a function like antennae in insects, namely as a sensory organ for sensing the conditions around them. The length of the filament of a vampire squid can exceed the length of its own body.
Despite its creepy name, vampire squid is completely harmless to humans. Vampire squid is only found in the sea with a depth of 300 to 3,000 meters.
At that depth, sunlight could not penetrate. As a result, the habitat where the vampire squid lives is always filled with darkness and has very cold temperatures (2 to 6 degrees Celsius).
The inhabitants of the dark sea, however, grew bright
The vampire squid has skin that is a combination of black, brown and red. Like squids in general, vampire squid also has chromatophore pigment cells in its skin.
However, unlike common squid, vampire squid do not have the muscles to change the color of chromatophore cells, so even vampire squid cannot change their skin color.
However, that didn't matter as the ability to change skin color wasn't a necessary skill in the dark deep sea.
Contrary to its name, the vampire squid is not a blood-sucking animal. Vampire squid is a carnivorous animal whose diet consists of jellyfish, shrimp, and copepods (a type of zooplankton with long antennae).
Video of a squid changing color
When hunting, vampire squid will eject its filaments. When these filaments detect the presence of prey, the vampire squid immediately swims towards the prey.
The vampire squid can also lure its prey by igniting the glowing organs on the tips of its arms and the base of its caudal fin.
Thinking that the light comes from food plankton, the prey of the vampire squid will head straight for the light source - without knowing that the vampire squid is waiting to ambush it.
Since food is hard to come by in the deep sea, vampire squid must be very adept at conserving energy. To outsmart this, vampire squid also has a very slow metabolism so it can live for days without eating.
Vampire squid also rarely moves its muscles to swim and floats more slowly in the ocean. However, if forced, the vampire squid can also swim fast by wagging its tail.
Methods of Defense and Reproduction
Even though the vampire squid lives in the dark and cold deep sea, it turns out that there are still animals that eat the squid. Animals such as seals, whales and large fish are known to prey on vampire squid.
Scientists can tell that this animal preys on the vampire squid because when its stomach is split open, there are shards of the vampire squid carcass in its stomach.
As the most basic form of self-defense, vampire squid take advantage of its dark environment to make it difficult for predators to find it.
However, if a predatory animal comes to the vampire squid because it sees the light it emits, the vampire squid can turn off its light organs for a moment and then turn it back on so that the enemy who wants to chase it will feel confused.
The vampire squid has no ink sacs, but it can regurgitate luminous particles to protect itself. The light can stay on for more than 9 minutes later.
When the enemy feels shocked because the surrounding environment is suddenly filled with a luminous fog, the vampire squid will take advantage of the moment to escape by swimming in zigzags.
This vampire squid defense technique is arguably the opposite version of the black ink emitted by squids and octopuses in shallow seas.
Apart from using light, the vampire squid can also protect itself by covering its body with its arms and membranes. In this way, the vampire squid's head is better protected and less vulnerable to predators.
Scientists still don't know much about the life cycle and breeding behavior of vampire squid. Its habitat which is far under the sea is the main cause.
If you look at the breeding behavior of squid in general, scientists suspect that vampire squid have similar breeding behavior. When mating time arrives, male and female vampire squid will release their sperm and eggs into the open seas.
When an egg and sperm collide with each other, fertilization occurs. The fertilized eggs then develop into embryos and baby squid. The baby squid has a pair of fins near its eyes.
However, as the size increases, the fins will gradually disappear and be replaced with a new pair of fins in the tail. The vampire squid can grow up to 28 cm long. The female squid is larger than the male. By: Ochie
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