The sort-of gross diet of the “vampire squid from hell”
Our colleagues at MBARI – the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – have been sharing videos and stories about the vampire squid for years. We in turn have been sharing them with visitors during our daily Mysteries of the Deep auditorium program.
Now MBARI researchers have solved the mystery of what these unusual deep-sea animals eat. It’s a fascinating tale, with a high gross-out factor – if you’re easily grossed out by animals that eat corpses, feces and mucus.
Turns out that the vampire squid, an ancient animal with characteristics of both squids and octopus, lives in a low-oxygen zone where living prey is scarce. But there’s an abundance of marine snow raining down, consisting largely of poop, dead bodies and mucus discarded by other ocean life.
So, unlike all other known cephalopod species, it hangs out, waiting for this manna to sink down, where it traps the goodies on filament-like tentacles, wraps them in mucus and gobbles it up.
This despite a Latin name (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) that translates as “vampire squid from hell.”
You’ll find much more in the video, on the MBARI website, and in this article from Discovery News.
Not as charming as the cast of Twilight, perhaps. But a mystery of the deep – solved.
Notes
-
ottery-kisses likes this
-
bigsmilerlv reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
bigsmilerlv likes this
-
ilovelovelylove likes this
-
midgets-and-lawnchairs likes this
-
franc-ophilia reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
curiousdinosaur likes this
-
illiumonster likes this
-
fyeahwildlife reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
rednettle reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
hellomagdalena reblogged this from glasscoffin
-
zombiescarlettohara likes this
-
glasscoffin reblogged this from mermaid-vision
-
frilled-shark reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
papayatee likes this
-
liz-marcs likes this
-
jackdaws-pocketbook reblogged this from waxjism
-
cheffoni reblogged this from sairobee
-
cheffoni likes this
-
thatferrybroad reblogged this from sairobee
-
music-gives-me-wings likes this
-
music-gives-me-wings reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
savateuse likes this
-
openthemoondoor reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
rookden likes this
-
endrea reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
neptunius reblogged this from curseofthefanartlords
-
smileyg012 reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
aquachinchilla reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
heksenhaus likes this
-
theonlyoneilune likes this
-
bonewhiteglory likes this
-
infanteslibris reblogged this from hopefulveterinarian
-
cannibaltarot reblogged this from oldmanyellsatcloud
-
crystaliiizedrose reblogged this from kaxen
-
feignedsobriquet likes this
-
jazzykitty reblogged this from hopefulveterinarian
-
brookeali likes this
-
raetc likes this
-
hopefulveterinarian reblogged this from marshyoftheblobs
-
fuckyouimaladybug likes this
-
marshyoftheblobs reblogged this from sairobee
-
fliting likes this
-
darksstars likes this
-
futurecadaver likes this
-
nephco likes this
-
eyeballpizza reblogged this from montereybayaquarium
-
jagdstorm likes this
-
curseofthefanartlords reblogged this from sairobee
- Show more notes
