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The dark ocean depths are hardly welcoming to terrestrial creatures. In addition to the lack of light to see and air to breathe, the weight of all the water above creates overwhelming pressure.
But this part of the world without light is full of life of its own; a life that evolved to thrive in these conditions, a life unlike anything you might find on drier shores.
Much of this life, for much of human history, has been inaccessible. He’s just been out there in the dark doing his job. But the relatively recent invention of remotely operated underwater vehicles, or ROVs, is finally opening our eyes to this dark, strange and silent world.
In October 2019, scientists at the Schmidt Ocean Institute aboard the Falkor research vessel came across such a creature while piloting the SuBastian ROV: an otherworldly squid, rarely seen by human eyes. This genus inhabits the lower mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths of the ocean – down to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) deep, almost entirely out of reach of sunlight.
We briefly stumbled across this magnificent squid yesterday during a #DesignThe Future ROV dive. Anyone have a name or more info on it? @MBARI_News @SarahMackAttack @ The OctoNation @BioinspirLab @KakaniKatija @universityofri @urigso @ bphillipsdeep6 @wyssinstitut pic.twitter.com/h83lO5GyBd
– Schmidt Ocean (@SchmidtOcean) October 15, 2019
The Planctoteuthis captured in rare images (now resurfaced by the institute on its second birthday) looks very unlike what you would expect from a squid.
It has a long, ornate tail with numerous appendages; on the other hand, his arms seem quite small. In this individual, the tail is decorated with long blue streamers and cells called iridophores that sparkle as the squid moves through the water.
These iridophores are stacks of very thin cells that can reflect light at different wavelengths. Here they glow gold, reflecting the light shining from the ROV’s headlights. In the dark conditions the squid usually lives in, these cells can harness the little light available to flicker and blink – although the purpose of this is unknown. It could be to attract prey, scare away predators or communicate with other squid, or maybe a combination.
This delicate little genus of squid is widely known from samples collected from the depths and damaged in the process. We only saw Planctoteuthis living in its natural habitat very rarely, so there is a lot we don’t know.
For example, scientists found characteristics in the samples that were usually seen only in juvenile squid. This suggests that the genus could be neotenic or slow to mature. We also don’t know the reason for the long, elaborate tails.
However, when a creature does not look like its kind, odds are it looks like something else. This is called mimicry, and in the animal kingdom, it often confers an advantage in avoiding predators. This specific Planctoteuthis It is believed to resemble a siphonophore, a composite animal that has stinging cells and emits light to attract prey.
Planctoteuthis could hijack the appearance of a siphonophore in an attempt to attract similar prey, but also to repel predators that would normally be reluctant to be stung by a siphonophore.
As we continue to dive deep into the ocean, we can only learn more about these mysterious squids. In 2014, Schmidt scientists captured a different species of Planctoteuthis on camera, and last year scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute also managed to capture an observation.
Each expedition brings us rare observations that tell us a little more about this strange, beautiful and mysterious world.
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