Hello Bubnyc,
Now, this *IS* an interesting question! There are pictures, and
interesting facts... all found below in my answer!
The Vampire Squid from Hell is known in as Vampyromorpha,
Vampyroteuthis, infernalis, Vampyroteuthidae, Vampyroteuthis, The
Vampire Squid.
"The vampire squid is rather small, reaching a maximum of 13 cm ML
(Nesis, 1982/7) and is very gelatinous; its consistency is that of a
jellyfish. It occupies meso- to bathypelagic depths throughout the
tropical and temperate regions of the world's oceans. The second pair
of arms is modified into retractile filaments that can extend to
lengths well in excess of the total length of the animal and be
retracted into pockets within the web. The filaments, presumably, have
a sensory function. The vampire has black chromatophores with
reddish-brown ones interspersed."
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Vampyroteuthis_infernalis&contgroup=Octopodiformes
"Name means "vampire squid from Hell"
Largest eyes for their size than any other animal
Smaller than your foot (about 6 inches to 1 foot) but has eyes the size of a wolf?s
Eyes appear to be dark red and glow in dark."
http://www.promotega.org/ksu00019/vsquid.htm
" * Unlike other squids, it can't expel ink in order to create a
distraction while it jets away.
* Instead (this is sooooo cool) it expels glowing snot filled with
blue balls of light in order to distract its opponent!
* It only grows to a foot long, but it has the biggest eyes of any
creature proportionate to the size of its body (it needs big eyes,
living at the depths it does).
* Unlike other squids, it normally doesn't move by jet action but
by flapping the two fins on its head.
* During a certain stage of its growth from infant to adult, it
has four fins on its head, which led people to think that the
different body forms represented more than one species.
* It's covered with little dots that it can cause to glow and
flash in order to confuse opponents.
* It uses its light-generating ability to obscure its outline so
predators can't spot it.
* It can't change color as well as similar critters, but its skin
and eyes look different colors depending on the circumstances.
* It has blue blood!
* (We think that) the females guard their eggs for like 400 days
before they hatch.
* They have a defensive move they do called "pumpkin posture" in
which they turn themselves inside out (sort of) so that their head is
down inside the bell-shaped part of their body. When they assume this
position they stick their legs way up away from their heads and make
the ends glow to distract the opponent from where their vital organs
(their head) are. If a predator bites one of the ends of their legs
off, they regenerate it!"
http://www.jimmyakin.org/2005/08/vampire_squid_f.html
Links to other sites
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/onnogross/vampyrot.htm
"Vampyroteuthis infernalis is a cosmopolitan cephalopod that lives in
the oxygen minimum layer between 600 and 800 m depth. Morphometric and
physiological studies have indicated that V. infernalis has little
capacity for jet propulsion and has the lowest metabolic rate ever
measured for a cephalopod."
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/201/16/2413
Hope this satisfies your curiosity!
Regards, Crabcakes
Search Terms
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Vampire Squid from Hell
Vampyroteuthis infernalis |
