Buzz
With their boneless, fluid bodies, twisting tentacles, razor-sharp beaks, and bulging eyes, squids, octopuses, and other cephalopods have long captivated human imagination. From ancient myths to modern sci-fi thrillers, these creatures seem almost otherworldly, but even within this already strange group, there are those that push the boundaries of weirdness. These are some of the most bizarre and extraordinary members of an already eccentric family.
10. Pygmy Squid
While squid are often associated with the ocean’s largest and most intimidating invertebrates, the terrifying creatures of nautical lore, few know about the tiniest of them all, Idiosepius notoides. Measuring under an inch in length, this minuscule squid resides only in sea grass, darting between the blades like tiny insects in an underwater field.
Patches of adhesive cells on the back of a pygmy squid allow it to anchor itself securely to sea grass blades when resting, freeing its tentacles and preventing it from being carried away by strong currents. Similarly, they attach their eggs to the blades in a single, careful row, with the female vigilantly guarding them until they hatch.
9. Flapjack Octopuses
The closest thing to a ghostly sheet in nature, very little is known about these peculiar deep-sea octopuses. Closely related to the similarly strange 'dumbo octopuses,' they belong to a distinct group, Opisthoteuthis, marked by their smooth, saucer-like form. Their reproductive habits and diet remain a mystery, yet they spend much of their time either hovering or crawling along the abyssal ocean floor, flattened into almost perfect puddles.
8. Spiny Cranch Squid
Cranchid or 'glass' squids are a deep-sea family known for their completely transparent bodies, providing perfect camouflage in the pitch-black waters of the ocean's depths. Some species also defend themselves by inflating like a balloon, puffing up into inedible spheres. This same defense mechanism is famous in blowfish, and the two creatures share more in common. For example, species like Cranchia scabra are also covered in sharp, tooth-like spikes. Additionally, these squids can retract their entire head and tentacles into their bodies, much like a turtle retreats into its shell.
7. Telescope Octopus
Another transparent inhabitant of the deep, Amphitretus pelagicus is the only known species in its unique genus. It is easily recognized by its tubular eyeballs, unlike those of any other cephalopod. These eye stalks can rotate independently, similar to a chameleon, and their complex design suggests remarkable vision, even among cephalopods, whose eyes already exceed our own. This may be due to its squid-like way of life; it spends its time drifting in open water and has never been observed crawling on the ocean floor like other octopus species.
6. The arm-thrower
Octopoteuthis deletron might appear to be just another deep-sea squid at first, but it has recently displayed a particularly macabre defense mechanism. When threatened, it can shed and release one or more of its hook-covered arms, which instinctively latch onto anything they touch and change color from red to white while the squid makes its escape.
While many cephalopods are capable of losing limbs when under attack, only deletron, as far as we know, has arms that are specifically designed to fight back while the rest of the creature flees. This behavior is known as 'attack autonomy,' a phenomenon found in only a few other species, including honeybees, whose stingers continue to inject venom even after they’ve detached from the body.
5. Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are famous for their intelligence and impressive ability to camouflage, even capable of 'animating' patterns on their skin to confuse prey. While most cuttlefish try to blend into their environment, the 'flamboyant' cuttlefish displays bright, vibrant patterns to warn predators of its toxic flesh. Even more unusual, it is one of the least efficient swimmers among squid and cuttlefish, preferring to 'walk' on the sea floor by using two arms as 'front legs' and two muscular skin flaps as 'hind legs.' It is the only mollusk with a quadrupedal gait, resembling many vertebrates. When approaching small prey, it shoots out its two tentacles in a way that could remind you of a frog or chameleon.
4. The Paper Nautilus
This rare and peculiar group of octopuses, known as 'argonauts,' are named after the delicate, papery shells secreted by the females, which they use as portable nests for their eggs and offspring. Males, whose only purpose is reproduction, are dramatically smaller than the females, sometimes as small as one-twentieth of their size, and perish immediately after transferring a long, sperm-filled tentacle into the female's mantle. This special reproductive tentacle, which is always the third right arm, is stored in a pouch, giving the tiny male a seven-armed appearance. Initially, when these tentacles were found inside females, they were mistaken for a new parasitic worm.
Female argonauts are occasionally seen attached to the bells of larger jellyfish, using these venomous creatures to protect themselves from predators. There’s evidence that they also feed on the jellyfish's stomach contents, much like a parasite, utilizing the other creature as both a food source and a defensive tool.
3. The Cock-Eyed Squid
The deep sea abyss might seem pitch-black to us surface-dwellers, but many of its inhabitants are so attuned to light that their surroundings appear bright and blue during the day. For some animals, this means the abyss is a dark world where dark objects are harder to see, while luminous creatures stand out. For others, however, dark objects are easily seen, and the glowing ones blend into a bright, blue landscape only they can detect. Every creature makes compromises with its vision, able to spot some, but not all, of its predators and prey.
Leave it to a cephalopod to exploit the strangest loophole. Histioteuthidae, also known as 'jewel squid' or 'cock-eyed squid,' are among the few animals with completely different eyes on each side of their body. The left eye, swollen and twice the size of the right, is highly sensitive to light. This eye allows it to see the bright, blue water of the abyss. The right eye, normal but sunken deeper into its socket, sees the abyss as a place of total darkness. By positioning its larger eye upward toward the light, the squid is able to see a broader spectrum of creatures than most other deep-sea dwellers.
The term 'jewel' refers to the small, dense lights that cover the bodies of these odd creatures. These lights are carefully regulated as day turns into night. This bioluminescent camouflage allows them to blend into the bright, blue waters that are only visible to their largest predators. This technique, known as 'bioluminescent cryptis,' allows some animals to thrive in a world so vastly different from ours, that they must glow to remain hidden in the darkness.
2. The Vampire Squid
With its veiny red skin, glowing false eyes atop its head, tentacles connected by a dark web, and finger-like, fleshy spines replacing traditional suckers, this eerie creature truly embodies its Latin name, 'Vampyroteuthis infernalis,' which translates to 'vampire squid from hell.' It resides in a place known as the 'Shadow Zone,' or more technically, the 'oxygen minimum zone,' an environment where the seawater stagnates and supports little marine life.
Not quite a squid nor an octopus, the vampire squid is the last living member of an ancient group that once grew much larger and thrived in warmer, brighter waters over 300 million years ago. However, as faster, more aggressive sea creatures emerged, these early cephalopods were pushed into the harsh conditions of the shadow zone. Adapted to conserve energy, their gelatinous bodies float passively, requiring little movement, while their slow metabolism survives on the limited oxygen from the sparse pelagic detritus they rely on.
Although vampire squid have been known to science for over a century, it wasn’t until 2012 that we uncovered what these floating creatures actually consumed in the desolate depths. Initially thought to be carnivores, we now understand that they are the only cephalopods that feed on non-living matter. Using two thread-like, sticky tendrils, they trap particles of decaying organic debris, or 'marine snow,' falling from above. These ancient, tentacled scavengers thrive in the shadow zone, feasting on the ocean’s waste in solitude.
1. The Long-Armed Squid
One of the most bizarre squid in the depths, the long-armed or 'elbowed' squid is also among the largest. While its body measures only a few feet in length, its tentacles stretch up to twenty times that, making the entire creature potentially reach up to thirty feet or more. These extraordinary tentacles are highly elastic, all the same length, and separated by jointed 'elbows' near their base, a feature not seen in any other squid or octopus.
Moving sluggishly with its enormous fins, the long-armed squid silently drifts through the water, expending minimal effort. Its eerie tendrils likely capture any fish or crustaceans that accidentally wander into their grasp. Essentially, it's a squid acting like a giant jellyfish or Man O' War, a living, flesh-eating web floating in the dark expanse of the abyss.
