Vampire Squid: Interesting Animal

908 Words4 Pages
Joseph Davis III Animal Behavior Vampire Squid The Vampire Squid is a unique animal. It is the last known surviving member of the Order Vampytomorphida and it shares features of both squids and octopus, even to the point of being improperly identified as an octopus in 1903. It is in the seventh order of the class Cephalopoda and may represent ancestral lines between squids and octopi. Its true name is Vampyroteuthis infernalis which translates to “vampire squid from Hell”. Unlike mythical vampires, vampire squids are not named such because they suck blood or have anything to do at all with blood. They are named vampire squids because of their dark color, cloak-like webbing, and red eyes. Also, despite its menacing name it is a fairly small creature. It only grows to about 6 inches in length. They also have very large eyes. In proportion to any other animal they have the largest eye-to-body ration of any animal in the world. Vampire squid move through the water by propulsion (sucking in and pushing out water through a specialized siphon jet located under its mantle) and by later flapping fins at the top of its body that closely resemble ears. What’s interesting about these fins are that they change size, shape, and position as the squid matures. After they reach a size of 15-25 mm in length, they begin to develop a pair of fins above the aforementioned pair. When this new pair matures, the old pair of fins is reabsorbed into its body. The squid moves by flapping its fin, making it literally fly, underwater. They are fast creatures, able to move two body lengths per second; however they don’t have much stamina. Vampire squids are deep sea animals. They reside at depths of 300 to 3,000 feet or more in a light minimal and discrete habitat known as the oxygen minimum zone. This zone cannot support higher organisms because

More about Vampire Squid: Interesting Animal

Open Document