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They are composed of a lens without a retina. These squids also have photoreceptors on the tops of their heads. They are located at the tip-off of the arms and base of the fins. They can change how bright, often, and numerous the flashes are. These are light-producing organs that can create a disorienting flashing light. They have white beak-shaped jaws and are covered in photophores. Adults have small fins that protrude from the mantel. The squid has round eyes that are usually red or blue, again depending on lighting and location. Half of each arm is covered with suckers. They are lined with spines, known as cirri. If one of these arms were to be removed, by a predator’s bite, for example, it could regenerate. The squid has eight arms, each of which is connected by webbing. They do not have the ability to change their color at will, though. The lighting conditions often affect its tones, as does the location. The squid’s name comes, in part, from its dark color.
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The body varies in color, from completely jet black to pale red. As is common among cephalopods, the female is larger than the male. The vampire squid is a small cephalopod that can grow to around twelve inches in length. Chun, inspired by the Challenger Expedition, wanted to prove that life existed below 550 meters, according to “The Valdivia Expedition, Carl Chun’s diving into the deep sea.” The squid was originally discovered by Carl Chun, a German teuthologist, in 1903 as part of the Valdivia Expedition. According to Marine Bio, they can move at approximately two body lengths per second and propel themselves with a jet of water through the mantel. It is the only surviving member of its order and can only grow to around 12 inches in length. It is found worldwide, in temperate and tropical oceans in extreme depths, around 2,000 to 3,000 feet. It does not, as the name would suggest, feed on blood. While the exposed cirri look scarily like rows of hooks or fangs, they are soft and harmless.The vampire squid gets its name from its dark coloring. The "pineapple" shape may confuse attackers. Videos of this maneuver give the appearance the squid is turning itself inside-out. Instead, the vampire squid pulls its cloak up over its head, with the bioluminescent ends of its arms placed well above its head. However, the squid doesn't use this defense mechanism readily because of the metabolic cost of regenerating it. If agitated, it can release a cloud of bioluminescent mucous, which may confuse predators. Like other deep sea cephalopods, the vampire squid lacks ink sacs. Additionally, the vampire squid has balancing organs called statocysts that help it maintain equilibrium. The squid's gelatinous, ammonium-rich body is similar in composition to that of a jellyfish, giving it a density close to that of seawater. The hemocyanin that gives its "blood" a blue color is more efficient at binding and releasing oxygen than in other cephalopods. Its extremely low metabolic rate helps it conserve energy, so it needs less food or oxygen than cephalopods living closer to the sea surface.
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infernalis is perfectly adapted to life in an extreme environment. As in true squids, vampire squid females are larger than males. infernalis is a relatively small "squid," reaching a maximum length of about 30 centimeters (1 foot). There are suckers near the ends of the arms, with soft spines called cirri lining the underside of the "cloak." Like the dumbo octopus, the mature vampire squid has two fins on the upper (dorsal) side of its mantle. In addition to eight arms, the vampire squid has two retractable sensory filaments that are unique to its species. Proportionally, the squid's eyes have the largest eye-to-body ratio in the animal kingdom. The squid is covered in light-producing organs called photophores, which can produce flashes of blue light lasting a fraction of a second to several minutes. Unlike true squid, the vampire squid can't change the color of its chromatophores. infernalis has reddish-brown skin, blue eyes (that appear red in certain light), and webbing between its tentacles. Its ancestry combines features of squids and octopuses. The vampire squid is sometimes called a living fossil because it is relatively unchanged compared with its fossilized ancestors that lived 300 million years ago.
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Many species of squid, like this bigfin reef squid, have photophores that provide light.