Two Luminous Bay Squid (Uroteuthis noctiluca) swimming at night. One is vertical and pointing slightly right while the other is partial behind it and point up and left. Their skin is translucent and they are covered in black chromatophores. They are glowing.

A Luminous Bay Squid (Uroteuthis noctiluca) floating while facing away from the camera. It has its arms raised up in a V posture. Its flesh is transparent, but it has brown and yellow chromatophores covering its arms, head, and some of its mantle along the centre up to the fins, where the chromatophores spread out to the fins into two lines on each side.

A Luminous Bay Squid (Uroteuthis noctiluca) floating. Its arms are spread out and curve inwards, giving it a fierce look. Its flesh is transparent, but it's entire body is covered in yellow and brown chromatophores.

A Luminous Bay Squid (Uroteuthis noctiluca) floating. Its limbs are hanging down, spread apart with the outer four having a curve to them. The squid has transparent flesh, with yellow, golden and dark brown chromatophores on its head and arms, and in a cross shape on its mantle and fins. The sides of its eyes are visible through the transparent flesh and are iridescent green and cyan.

Luminous Bay Squid (Uroteuthis noctiluca) use light to camouflage themselves.

They get bioluminescent bacteria from the water to live in their light organs, which then produce just enough light to hide their silhouette at night.

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A photo of a colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). It is in the water but caught in a fishing line. Its head and limbs are partially above water. It has a large wide mantle and fins. It is pinkish red colour.

A juvenile colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) floating in the ocean. This was the first time a colossal squid was seen in its natural habitat. It is about 30 cm long. Its arms and head are orange, and its mantle and fins are a transparent. You can see the dark red digestive organ inside the mantle. The mantle has yellowish orange and a few orange chromatophores. Like other cranchiids, it has a somewhat large and inflated mantle. Its arms are in a messy tangle. The squid is in a horizontal position.

A juvenile colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) floating in the ocean. This was the first time a colossal squid was seen in its natural habitat. It is about 30 cm long. Its arms and head are orange, and its mantle and fins are a transparent. You can see the dark red digestive organ inside the mantle. The mantle has yellowish orange and a few orange chromatophores. Like other cranchiids, it has a somewhat large and inflated mantle. Its arms are in a messy tangle. The squid is pointing downwards on diagonal angle.

A colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) near a fishing boat, holding on some poles. The squid has a very large and inflated mantle. The squid is red.

The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is the largest living invertebrate species. We've found a specimen weighing 495 kg, but they might be able to get even bigger.

Earlier this year, we filmed a live colossal squid for the first time in situ, although it was only a juvenile

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A large egg mass of a southern shortfin squid (Illex coindetii) floating in the ocean. It is roughly spherical shape. It is mostly transparent, except for a light brown twisty mass inside, that makes it resemble a cat's eye marble. A diver swims nearby, flashing a light on the egg mass. The egg mass is larger than average, about as big as the diver.

Two short-finned squid (Illex coindetii) specimens on a beige surface. There is a larger one on top and a smaller one below. They have a typical squid shape, with triangular fins. They have an orange colour.

A large egg mass of a southern shortfin squid (Illex coindetii) floating in the ocean. It is roughly spherical shape. It is mostly transparent, except for a light brown twisty mass inside, that makes it resemble a cat's eye marble. A diver swims nearby, flashing a light on the egg mass. The egg mass is larger than average, about as big as the diver.

A large egg mass of a southern shortfin squid (Illex coindetii) floating in the ocean. It is roughly spherical shape, although there is an extra blob shaped bit sticking out to the side. It is mostly transparent, except for a light brown twisty mass inside, that makes it resemble a cat's eye marble. The egg mass is being illuminated by a diver outside of the frame, and another diver is visible on the other side. You can see little unidentified things on the outside of the egg mass that resemble pine needles or grains of rice.

The egg masses of the southern shortfin squid (Illex coindetii) resemble a metre wide cat's eye marbles.

That's especially impressive when you remember that the largest female squid of this species had a mantle length of 37 cm.

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Asperoteuthis mangoldae has a fancy tail that is longer than the rest of the squid, and when it is unfurled it resembles a sea pen.

Little is known about this species. They were formally described in 2007 and filmed for the first time in 2019.

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A female Bathyteuthis carrying an egg mass. The squid is red with big black eyes and is facing the right. It has a big of white on the back of its head. The egg mass is clear with light bulb or upside down tear drop shaped white eggs in the clear structure. The egg mass is going down and to the left.

A Bathyteuthis squid (Bathyteuthis sp.) floating in the ocean. The squid is reddish orange and has large beady eyes with the pupils dilated, so it looks like it is zonked out of its gourd. The squid is inking, and the cloud of ink looks like wisps of smoke. coming out of the squids face.

A Bathyteuthis bacidifera squid floating in the ocean while surrounded by snow. It is in a vertical position and is facing to the right. It is a deep red except for the back of its head. It has big beady dark blue or black eyes. It has its arms held together and pointing down.

A Bathyteuthis berryi mother floating in the ocean carrying an egg mass. The squid is deep red with beady black eyes. The egg mass is clear with lightbulb or upside down tear drop shaped white eggs in the clear structure. The egg mass splits part way down, so it looks like a person's legs with one leg lifting the calf up.

Bathyteuthis is one of two genera in the order Bathyteuthida. Bathyteuthis squids are also some of the few squid species that brood their eggs, carrying them as they float through the sea

They also look super goofy with those eyes. What's going on in that donut shaped brain of theirs?

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A Taonius sp. floating in the sea. It is facing toward the caemra. Its limbs are all held together and pointing up, making it look like it has a big spiky for a hairdo. It has large beady eyes with shiny photophores on the bottom. Its mantle is transparent and its limbs are translucent. You can see a long thin orange organ that is its digestive gland.

A Taonius sp. swimming in the ocean. Its body is transparent, except for its digestive gland, which is a long thin red organ, and eyes which are reddish. Its tentacles are translucent with orange tips.

Two photos of a Taonius borealis. The squid has deep red chromatophores all over its body. The first photo is from straight on and slightly above. Its eyes are looking down, its limbs are all pointing straight up, and its mantle is going straight back. The second photo is in front of its head. It is looking forward with sad, depressed eyes and its limbs are up and going back. Its mantle is going back and slightly down. Its siphon is just below its eyes, looking like a mouth.

A Taonius sp. inking. Its body is oriented on a diagonal, with its face pointing to the upper left. Its arms and tentacles are raised above its head, at a 90 degree and to its body. Its body is translucent, with some red chromatophores on its mantle. Its eyes and limbs have more visible chromatophores, so you can't see through them. You can see into its mantle, including a long orange digestive gland that is oriented vertically. Its mantle is filled with ink that it is slowly releasing from its siphon, so it is looks like someone exhaling smoke or a vape.

When I think of a cranchiid, I think of a Taonius squid.

Transparent body? ✅
Ammonium filled sac for buoyancy? ✅
Steve Buscemi eyes? ✅
Arms making it look like they got funky hairdo? ✅

I mean, what else could you want in a squid?

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A Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) swimming in the ocean. Its fins are open and flapping. Its arm extending out horizontally, in line with its body, with their tips curled out and back. In the centre of the arms are its arms with its two large photophores that are shining. It is dark red, except for the underside of its arms which are a lighter red, and its photophores which have a yellow green light.

A Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) swimming in the ocean, with its photophores glowing brightly. Its arms are held together Its fins are curled as they are mid flap, and you can see its mantle gets much thinner where the fins are. The squid has dark red colour and the photophores are yellow green.

Two images of the same Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) side by side. It is in the deep sea, so the background is dark navy blue. The squid is dark red, with dark blue eyes and bright green photophores. Left Image: A Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) about to attempt to eat a camera. It is quickly swimming towards the camera while opening its arms and flashing its lemon sized photophores. Right Image: A Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) grabbing the arm of an ROV. It appears to be attempting to hunt the arm, although it quickly realizes it is not food and swims away. The arm is metal, with a camera and a brush at the end. The camera has an orange plastic bit at the end. A black cable extends out the back of the camera going back to the body of ROV. There are some metal and plastic ties on the arm. The squid has its arms grasped around the camera and the end of the the arm. Its fins are mid flap, and its siphon is in its centre, peaking out of its mantle on the visible front of the squid. The photophores are not visible.

A Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) swimming downwards as it unfurls its massive fins. The fins run almost the entire length of the mantle. Its mantle gets thinner where its fins are, and there some large white scratches in the centre of its mantle. Its arms are held together roughly and the photophores are not visible. It has a dark red colour with dark blue eyes.

Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae) is a large squid species that has the largest photophores of any organism.

Their lemon-sized photophores also have an eyelid-like membrane that lets them blink their lights. When they hunt, they will flash their lights in order to confuse their prey

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A Ommastrephes cylindraceus flying over the surface of the ocean. The squid has a blue mantle and head with light blue eyes. It has off white fins, arms and webbing which are spread out to help them glide.

A large squad of Webbed Flying Squid (Ommastrephes caroli) launching out of the ocean. You can see the jets of water leaving their bodies. They look like a missile salvo.

A 3D computer generate image depicting the motion of a flying squid. There are 4 squid 3d models, depicting it gliding, diving, jetting and launching. Original Caption: Multi-locomotion of flying squid in launching, jetting, gliding and diving phases. Soft and flexible fins and arms can fold and spread in two fluids, to shuttle between water and air.

An Ommastrephes cylindraceus flying over the surface of the ocean. It has a a blue mantle and head with light blue eyes. It has off white fins, arms and webbing which are spread out to help it glide.

They fly now?!

Several squids in the family Ommastrephidae are known as flying squids. They use their siphons to propel themselves out of the water like a squid rocket, then they glide through the air.

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A giant squid (Architeuthis dux) swimming just below the surface surrounded by a fishing net. It has its arms held all together in line with its body, like a brush on paintbrush. The squid is entirely orangish red except for a white splotch at the tip of its mantle.

A giant squid (Architeuthis dux) swimming just below the surface by a boat at night. It is being illuminated by the boat's light. You can see part of the boat, either a rudder or a pontoon. There is Japanese text on the image above the squid that says "だいおういか" which is "dai ō ika" in romanji translating to literally to large squid. The squid has all its arms together and is entirely orangish red except for a white splotch at the tip of its mantle.

A giant squid (Architeuthis dux) floating just below the surface while two divers film it. The squid is pointing towards the top of the image. Its arms are not organized, with a few of them being curled back, including one on the outside. The squid longer than either diver, although it hard to see how much longer. The squid is red with lots of white splotches. The divers are in black wetsuits, and there is one to either side. The diver on the left is at the mantle's end. while the other is halfway down.

A blurry photo of a giant squid (Architeuthis dux) at the surface of the water at night. It is attacking a large diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus) which is on a fishing lure that is not visible. The giant squid dwarfs the diamondback squid. The giant squid is reddish orange, and its arms are curled and flailing around. It appears to be spraying water out of its siphon. Some of its suckers are visible. The diamondback squid is white and reddish orange.

Giant squid (Architeuthis dux) are the longest and the second largest squid species, with a mantle length of around 2 m.

Although live giant squid weren't seen until the early 2000s, we've seen them alive plenty of times since.

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An unidentified cephalopod (Probably Discoteuthis discus) in a strange pose. It is folded onto itself with it's mantle mostly on the bottom, two limbs pointing vertically and the rest pointing back. This view is from the side.

A more blown up photo of an unidentified cephalopod (Probably Discoteuthis discus) in a strange pose. It is upside down, with its arms up top and mantle on the bottom. Its mantle and arms are bent backwards, except two arms which are just dangling around downwards.

An unidentified cephalopod (Probably Discoteuthis discus) in a strange pose. It is folded onto itself with it's mantle mostly on the bottom, two limbs pointing vertically and the rest pointing back. This view is from the front.

An unidentified cephalopod (Probably Discoteuthis discus) in a strange pose. It is upside down, with its arms up top and mantle on the bottom. Its mantle and arms are bent backwards, except two arms which are just dangling around downwards.

Discoteuthis discus is a squid species that has been observed at most twice in its natural habitat.

Both times we've seen, they have been doing weird poses. But because we have so few observations of this species, we have no idea if this is normal for them or not.

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The Ram's Horn Squid (Spirula spirula) is the only living member of the order Spirulida. It's rather unique squid, with a spiral internal shell, photophores on the tip of its mantle, and the way it swims upside down.

The first time we saw one alive in its natural habitat was in 2020!

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A Chtenopteryx sicula floating above the sea floor. The squid is translucent white. A purple organ is visible in its mantle, and the part of its black eyes that is inside of its body is visible. Its fins have fin ribs at regular intervals, making it look like a comb or a ruffle chip.

A blackwater photo of Chtenopteryx squid. It has translucent skin, but it is covered in brilliant orange chromatophores, which completely cover the mantle, most of the head, the upper arms and lower fins. Its arms and tentacles are neatly spread out. Its fins have fin ribs at regular intervals, making it look like a comb or a ruffle chip.

Six photos of Chtenopteryx sicula individuals observed during the ROV survey. Each squid is translucent white. A red/pink organ is visible in their mantle, and the part of their black eyes that is inside of their bodies is visible. Their fins have fin ribs at regular intervals, making it look like a comb or a ruffle chip. Each image, left to right, top to bottom, is labeled with a letter a-f. a) Frame grab from the HD video of the first individual of C. sicula detected during the research cruise; b) image of a male having a large dorsal light organ (white arrow); c) swimming near a longnosed skate (Dipturus oxyrinchusd) e) f) particulars of the chromatic pattern and stationary behaviour.

A Chtenopteryx squid floating in the ocean as observed by an ROV. Its mantle and head are bright orange. Its limbs are translucent white. It has black beady eyes. Its fins are translucent and have an orange stripe near the out edge that goes the length of the fin. You can see the translucent fin ribs white are at regular intervals, making it look like a comb or a ruffle chip. The squid is roughly horizontal, with two limbs extending and curving upwards.

They certainly aren't a no-frills squids.

Comb-finned Squids (genus Chtenopteryx) are small squids with unique fins.

Their fins have muscular ribs that give them look like a swimming ruffle chip.

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A Planctoteuthis squid swimming in the ocean. Extending from the end of its mantle is a long tail with wispy frills coming off of it. It sort of looks like a tree with no leaves.

A Planctoteuthis squid swimming in the ocean. Extending from the end of its mantle is a long tail with wispy frills coming off of it. In addition, there are a lot of other wispy things attached to the tail. These things are currently unidentified.

A Planctoteuthis squid swimming downwards in the ocean. Extending from the end of its mantle is a long tail with several fin like things coming off of it.

A Planctoteuthis squid swimming in the ocean. Extending from the end of its mantle is a long tail with wispy frills coming off of it. The tail sort of looks like a pine tree without any needles.

Planctoteuthis squids have fancy tails that are believed to help them mimic siphonophores.

This type of mimicry is common among squids in the family Chiroteuthidae, but most only have these tails as juveniles. Planctoteuthis squids keep their tails as adults.

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An Octopoteuthis deletron floating in the deep sea with a silly pose. Its mantle is sort of horizontal pointing downwards with its arms raised upwards. You can see the zigzagging rows of hooks on its arms Its fins are out to the side. It has an orange colour.

An Octopoteuthis deletron swimming with an extremely silly post. It appears to be swimming away from the camera, flapping its fins. Its arms are raised up and back over its mantle, and you can see the zigzag row of little white hooks on its arms. Its blue eyes are blocked but its fin and you can see its siphon on the underside. The squid is orange.

An Octopoteuthis deletron inking. Its body is horizontal and its arms are raised up and back over its body. You can see the zigzag row of little white hooks on its arms. Its fins are flapping and you can see its siphon on its underside. It has big blue round eyes. It is orangish red with orange on the underside of its arms. The ink is wafting upwards like a cloud of smoke.

A close up of an Octopoteuthis deletron face. The squid is upside down, with its mantle down and to the left, siphon pointing up, and its arms going up and then down. You can clearly see the row of hooks on each arm. The squid's eye has a big blue spherical pupil, with a brown iris around it, and a white sclera. The squid is orangish red to orange, white big purplish white splotches on its face.

Octopoteuthis deletron don't have their tentacles as adults, leaving them with only 8 hooked arms. They are even capable of detaching an arm in order to escape from a predator.

The male squids will mate with any O. deletron they meet - male or female.

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A Galiteuthis phyllura floating in the ocean, with its face and body pointing down. Inside its mantle you can see its digestive tract and two unidentified translucent organs. It has large eyes sockets and eyes. Its limbs are all extending upwards and are next to its mantle. Its tentacles going longer than its arms. The limbs are translucent but have orange chromatophores.

A Galiteuthis phyllura floating in the ocean, with its face close to the camera. Its mantle is horizontal, and its transparent and covered in orange chromatophores. Inside its mantle you can see its shiny digestive tract, an unidentified orange organ and two unidentified translucent organs. It has large, shiny orange eye sockets that have large black eyes. All its limns are raised above its head, and they are slightly translucent and shiny and covered in orange chromatophores.

A Galiteuthis phyllura floating vertically in the ocean. Its mantle is translucent and covered in orange chromatophores. Inside its mantle you can see its shiny digestive tract and two unidentified translucent organs. It has large eyes sockets and eyes. Its limbs are all extending upwards, which its tentacles going longer than its arms. The limbs are translucent but have orange chromatophores.

A Galiteuthis phyllura floating in the ocean, with its face and body pointing down. Inside its mantle you can see its digestive tract and two unidentified translucent organs. It has large eyes sockets and eyes. Its limbs are all extending upwards and are next to its mantle. Its tentacles going longer than its arms. The limbs are translucent but have orange chromatophores.

It can be hard to get sense of scale in the deep sea. Galiteuthis phyllura might look like your average cranchiid, but they are BIG, with an estimated maximum mantle length of 2.7m!

It shouldn't be all that surprising that they are in the same family as the colossal squid.

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A Two-toned Pygmy Squid (Idiosepius pygmaeus) holding a crab like crustacean in its arms. The pygmy squid has itself glued to a branching sea plant. The sea plant is black with a purple tinge and has a bunch of dark yellow frilly things sticking out of it. The pygmy squid is attached to the sea plant at its mantle. The pygmy squid translucent, and have a yellow colour with tiny black spots all over. Its eyes are silvery with some iridescent cyan on top. The crustacean is grasped within its arms, and the crustacean is helplessly reaching out with all its limbs. The crustacean is a very light pink colour and a bit translucent.

A Southern Pygmy Squid (Xipholeptos notoides) hiding on a piece of sea grass. It has glued itself to the piece of sea grass to wait for prey to ambush. The sea grass is dark green with some greenish grey stuff covering much of it. The pygmy squid has camouflaged itself, with much of its body being a translucent, almost transparent, grey with some dark green chromatophores. Around its eyes it has an iridescent greed. The pygmy squid has its mantle pointing down, then it has its neck bending a bit forward, and then its head and arms are pointing up.

A photo of two-toned pygmy squid (Idiosepius pygmaeus) sitting on a leaf. Its body is translucent, with its eyes and organ visible through its skin. It have brown and black chromatophores all over its body.

The smallest squids are the aptly named Pygmy squids (order Idiosepida), with their mantle length reaching about 2 cm and weighing less that 0.2 g.

They are known as the "Post-It notes of the sea", since they will glue themselves to sea grass in order to ambush their prey.

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A Grimalditeuthis bonplandi swimming in ocean without its tentacle extended. The squid is translucent with orange tinge, and is covered in yellow chromatophores. It has two sets of fins which are both flapping. The upper fins have more chromatophores. You can see some of its organs due to its translucent flesh.

A Grimalditeuthis bonplandi swimming in ocean. The squid is a translucent reddish pink. It has fins as well as a set of secondary fins on its tail. The secondary fins have more chromatophores, while the primary ones have less so its more translucent. Its tentacle is extended with the "squid puppet" at the end.

A Grimalditeuthis bonplandi swimming downward. Its tentacle is not extended, and its arms are all together. It is slightly translucent, and is a slightly purple colour with its mantle being more white. There is a red line on its head going across and through its eye.

A close up of Grimalditeuthis bonplandi swimming in ocean, focused on its "squid puppet" tentacle. The tentacle is thin and orange, with a flappy bit for a tentacle club. This flappy bit is meant to mimic a squid. The squid is a translucent with a yellow tentacle and yellow secondary fin.

They are the real puppet master.

Grimalditeuthis bonplandi has a unique hunting strategy. It lets its tentacle out as a lure, with its tentacle club flapping around in the water to mimic a squid, like a squid hand puppet. Prey is lured in thinking they are about to have a squid snack.

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A strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis) floating in the ocean. The squid's mantle has a deep red colour and is covered in photophores, making it look like strawberry with seeds. Its limbs are curled and held behind it, and its smaller eye is visible.

A strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis) floating in the ocean. Its mantle has a deep red colour and is covered in photophores, making it look like strawberry with seeds. Its limbs are held tightly together pointing below, and it's smaller blueish black eye and larger yellowish green eye are visible.

A close up of a strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis). Its mantle has a deep red colour and is covered in photophores, making it look like strawberry with seeds. Its limbs are not visible, but you can clearly see its white siphon and its large yellowish green eye.

A strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis) floating in the ocean and inking. The squid is quite small, and the ink is wisping out to the left. The squid is oriented on the top left to bottom right diagonal, with the bottom end pointing away from the camera. The squid's mantle has a deep red colour and is covered in photophores, making it look like strawberry with seeds. Its smaller eye is visible, and its limbs are held together.

Strawberry squids (Histioteuthis heteropsis) are known for two things: the fact that they look just like a strawberry, and the fact they have two different sized eyes.

The large eye looks upward to spot shadows, while the small eye looks downward to spot flashes of bioluminescence.

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A bigfin squid (genus Magnapinna) swimming above the seafloor. It is on a shallow diagonal angle, almost horizontal. Its body is pink, with large fins, a mantle about 3 times longer than the head, and black beady eyes. Its arms have a short, stubby pink section, then a much, much longer thin white sections that kind of curvy, like a string waving in the wind.

A photo of bigfin squid (genus Magnapinna) swimming in the ocean. It has orange skin. It has large fins and extremely long arms. The arms have two sections, a short, thicker section, then a bend, then a much longer thinner section.

A close up of a bigfin squid (Magnapinna sp.). It has a relatively small head and mantle with large fins that go to the top edge of the image. Its arms are in two distinct part: a short thicker section close to the body, and long, thing section coming off of the shorter sections on an angle. The shorted section have two rows of small suckers. The squid is a light orange and peach colour, with the long thin part of the arms being lighter. Its mantle and fins are translucent.

A bigfin squid (genus Magnapinna) swimming in the ocean. It is a pale pinkish white. It has large fins and extremely long arms. The arms have two sections, a short, thicker section, then a bend, then a much longer thinner section. Two limbs are going down deep, where the other limbs are kind of curvy and not going as far down.

Bigfin squids (genus Magnapinna) are the deepest dwelling squids, having been sighted at a depth of 6,212 m.

Their extremely long and thin arms are the most iconic part of their appearance, but we don't exactly know why they are like that.

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Two firefly squids (Watasenia scintillans) swimming in the dark. It is too dark to see their bodies except for their glowing blue photophores which cover their whole body.

A Firefly Squid (Watasenia scintillans) swimming just above the sandy sea floor. It is illuminated, so you can see the squid clearly but its photophores are not glowing (or at least you cannot see their glow). It looks like a typical squid, although at the end of each of its two tentacles is a cluster of three black circles, which are photophores. The squid has translucent flesh with orange chromatophores.

Several firefly squids (Watasenia scintillans) swimming in the dark. It is too dark to see their bodies except for their glowing blue photophores which cover their whole body.

A firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans) swimming in the dark. The top side is illuminated, letting you see its orange mantle, large eye and translucent white arms. The bottom is not illuminated, and only their glowing blue photophores are visible.

Firefly squids (Watasenia scintillans) are covered in blue and green photophores, making them a beautiful display of bioluminescence, especially when they gather to mate.

They are also the only squid species known to have colour vision

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A piglet squid (Helicocranchia sp.) floating in the ocean. Its entire body is translucent and is oriented horizontally. Its limbs being held upwards, making it look like it has crazy hairdo. It has a relatively large siphon that is below its head sticking straight out, making it look like a pig with a snout. The picture is from the side.

Two In situ photographs of the same female piglet squid (Helicocranchia sp.), anterolateral views, from an ROV photographed floating in front of oil pumping equipment in the Gulf of Guinea at a depth of 1015 m. Arrow in upper photograph points to stub of tentacle. The squid is a slightly translucent beige pink. Its limbs being held upwards, making it look like it has crazy hairdo. It has a relatively large siphon that is below its head sticking straight out, making it look like a pig with a snout, especially since the opening is closed in a way that resembles nostrils.

A piglet squid (Helicocranchia sp.) swimming in the ocean. Its limbs are spread out and pointing up, and its mantle is going back. It has black eyes and its siphon is large and going past its head, making it look like a pig with a snout.

A floating piglet squid (Helicocranchia sp.). Its body is completely translucent, except for a single, thin, vertically oriented organ. Its limbs being held upwards, making it look like it has crazy hairdo. It has a relatively large siphon that is below its head sticking straight out, making it look like a pig with a snout

Piglet squids (genus Helicocranchia) are a genus of small cranchiids known for their goofy appearance. They have a rather large siphon that make them look like a pig with a snout.

Well I guess with their arms raised up cranchiid style, they look like a pig with a crazy hairdo.

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A close up of a small diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus), with the focus on its face. A person is holding it by the mantle for the photo. Its arms are raised up, and you can can see the webbing on its arms, especially on two of them. Its tentacles are visible with the suckers on the club. The tentacles have no webbing. It has black beady eyes, so it does actually look cute. The squid has a stunning golden orange/red colour.

A diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus) swimming just below the surface of the ocean. Its skin is reddish pink and its mantle and fins make a kite shape.

An egg mass of a diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus) floating in the sea just below the surface of the water. The egg mass is magenta and is a coiled thread of squid eggs, forming a tube that looks not unlike a slinky. It is making an S bend.

A blackwater photo of a juvenile diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus). It appears to be swimming towards the camera. Its body is translucent, with orange on its fins, red on its head internal organs and a light pink on its arm webbing. Its arms have webbing on their underside. Its tentacles are visible, but they have no webbing. Four of its arms are curving up and back, and then turning forward, giving a raptorial appearance. They others limbs are pointing forward with no consistent pattern.

Diamondback Squids (Thysanoteuthis rhombus) lay their eggs in giant pink coils that can contain 35,000 to 75,000 eggs.

They are also one of the few cephalopod species that are monogamous and not polyandrous. They pair up as juveniles and stay together until their deaths.

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A blackwater photograph of a Bigfin Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana). Its arms hanging downward and curved, except for two small centre arms which are raised and curved to the left. One of its tentacles are visible, with its club and translucent appendage. You can see its chromatophores, giving its a variety of colours, from gold to brown to off white with brown spots. The squid is also iridescent , with a green iridescent area above each eye.

A squad of eight Southern Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis australis) swimming. They are all sort oriented on a diagonal, with their mantles pointing away from the camera and to the right. Their fins are flapping and their arms are held together. They are mostly a bluish white colour, with some yellowing orange on the top of their their head. The one in the top right has a dark orange face and arms. Their eyes have an iridescent cyan green colour. The background is out of focus, but it is a sandy sea floor with some sea plants, and it is dim.

A Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) swimming in dark blue water. Its mantle its point and down and to the left. Its limbs are pointing to the left and slightly up, with the tips curving. One limb is going the other way. Its limbs have a yellow colour and there some yellow patched on its fins, but its mantle is pink.

A squad of three Southern Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis australis) swimming. The camera is below and angled up, so you can see the surface of the water and beams of light coming through the water. The squids have their arms held together. Their fins, which go the length of their mantle, are flapping. The squids are a darkish orangish red, and the water around them is light blue.

Reef squids (genus Sepioteuthis) don't just use their spectacular colours to look pretty.

They use their colour changing abilities to communicate with their fellow squids, which comes in handy because they are quite social, often swimming in squads.

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Oral view of brachial crown of Promachoteuthis sulcus, holotype. The squid seems to have a set of dentures. The "dentures" are the circular, folded lips, of which only the upper and lower portions can be seen. The lips surround the beaks which are not visible in this photograph.

A live Promachoteuthis sulcus floating in the sea. It is pointing vertically on a slight tilt. It has a translucent white colour, except for most of its limbs and eyes which are a dark red. Its red limbs are hanging downward, but it has two white limbs that are pointing out and forming an upside down V shape. You can vaguely see organs in its mantle but it is like looking through frosted glass.

We used to think Promachoteuthis sulcus was a bit of a creep. We had a single specimen, and its lips made it look like it had a creepy, toothy mouth.

But in 2024 we saw a live one for the first time, and look how beautiful they are! Look how thick those tentacles are!

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A female Black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) swims slowly through the water, carrying its sack of eggs. The squid has an orange head and arms, black eyes surrounded by grey skin, pale pink mantle with a dark pink at the tip of the mantle, and orange fins. In its arms it is carrying a sack of grey eggs. The eggs are spherical but they are all stuck together in a long shape. The egg mass is longer than the squid.

A Black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) grabbing onto an ROV. All its arms are holding onto the metal of the ROV. The squid is pink to red, with darker colour on its fins and some arms. The ROV is grey metal, but one part has 5 stripes that left to right are black, white, blue, green and red.

A Black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) floating Davidson Seamount at 1328 meters depth. The ground in background is covered in large rocks and is tinged green. The squid is slightly blur. It has its mantle pointing upwards and its arm dragging behind but spread out. The squid is mostly a pearl white with some pale orange on the tip of its mantle and its arms.

A female Black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) brooding eggs The squid is a light pink with a a more red could by the tip of its mantle. It has round eyes with a black pupil and blue iris. It is oriented vertically. Below it is a large mass of grey eggs that it is carrying in its arms. The eggs look like a bunch of ball bearings in in a bag. The egg mass is larger than the squid.

Squids don't stick around to look after their eggs. Once they are laid, they are on their own.

The black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) is one of the exceptions. Instead of leaving their eggs to fend for themselves, they carry around and brood their egg mass as their float through the sea.

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Joubin's Squid (Joubiniteuthis portieri) floating in the ocean. The squid is very thin and has a orange colour. It has a long tail extending from its mantle and is waving in the water. Its arms are long and thin, and are extending out and curling back in. The arms are a slightly orange off white.

Joubin's Squid (Joubiniteuthis portieri) floating in the ocean, with the camera centred on its head. It has black beady eyes. Its arms are long and thin, and are extending out and curling back in. The arms are a slightly orange off white. Its body is thin and is orange. Its tail is outside of the frame.

Joubin's Squid (Joubiniteuthis portieri) floating in the ocean. The squid is very thin. Its mantle is off white and the rest of it is reddish orange. It has a long tail extending from its mantle and is waving in the water. Its arms are long and thin, and are loosely spread out.

A closeup of a Joubin's Squid (Joubiniteuthis portieri) floating in the ocean and reacting to the ROV. It has black beady eyes. It has long, thin arms that are mostly white but they have orange chromatophores on them. The chromatophores are more visible near its head. Its orange body is quite thin. Its head is in the ROV's shadow.

Like many squids in Chiroteuthoidea, Joubin's squid (Joubiniteuthis portieri) is a little freak. They are a very thin and lanky squid, and they have a long impressive tail that is believed to mimic sinophores.

And by a little freak, I do mean little. They have a mantle length of 9 cm.

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A Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) actively sifting through the sand. It is white with dark red and black chromatophores with some green iridescent areas on its arms and near its eyes. Its four centre limbs are shorter and the tips curve away from the centre. The other limbs are longer, touching the sand.

A very large mop of Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) egg cases on a rocky New Brunswick beach. A woman squats nearby with her arms stretched for scale. Her arm span is only about a third of the length of the mop.

A Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) swimming and staring forward. It has a dark red and black chromatophores all over its body, with iridescent green areas on the top of its mantle, head and arms.

Three drawings depicting male aggression in Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii). The first is a drawing of a squid, with the text "1. Visual attraction." The second is a drawing of a squid touching a "mop" of egg capsules with its limbs, with the text "2. Physical contact". The third drawing is two squids fighting with there arms tangled, with the text "3. Extreme aggression." Below is a graphic showing the similarities between the phermone “aggressin” and Human β-microseminoprotein. Description from article: When male squids see egg capsules on the sea floor, then approach and touch them, this leads to immediate and dramatic change from calm swimming to extreme fighting. The contact pheromone (“aggressin” or Loligo β-MSP) is in the tunic of the egg capsules and is similar in structure to that found in humans, mice, and other vertebrates.

Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) lay their eggs in large mops of egg capsules. These capsules contain symbiotic bacteria that are believed to protect the eggs before they hatch.

The female squids also deposit a pheromone that makes the males fight after they touch the eggs.

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A squad of Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas) swimming in the sea. They are large, white squid shaped squids. They are all swimming in roughly the same direction. It is dark, so some of the squids are hard to see in the background and edges.

A POV shot of a Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas) grabbing a divers arm and camera. Two arms are raised up and curling back, two are grabbing the camera or are about to, and the other arms are out of the shot. The squid is quite large, and its mantle is pointing away from the camera. Some fish are in the background. The whole image has a green tint.

A fisherman holding 52lb Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) caught off of the Southern California coast. The squid, including its arms, is almost as tall as the man, maybe 10-15 shorter. The squid is a deep dark red. The fisherman is wearing a camo baseball cap, camo jacket, jeans and sneakers. Another fisherman is behind him with a fishing rod.

A Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas) caught on a fishing line. It is being pulled out of the water. It is coming out head first, so its arms are flailing and its beak is visible. The squid is orange.

Humboldt Squids (Dosidicus gigas) got a bad reputation. Nicknamed "diablo rojo" by Mexican fishermen, they are known for being big, aggressive and sometimes cannibals.

They also hunt in packs and communicate with each other by changing the colour of their skin.

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Three grass squid (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) chilling in a plastic container with the arms touching the edges. They are all brown with brown chromatophores. There are also a bunch of smaller things but I don't know what they are. Probably tiny translucent shrimp or krill.

Two grass squid (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) swimming. The one on the left is the background and has their limbs pointing up and their mantle point up and right. The one on the right is in the foreground and has their mantle pointing up and their limbs point up and left. They both have dark orange brown skin with black chromatophores and some red spots.

A Grass Squid (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) in a transparent container. It is try at the edge, and you can see its reflection. The water is dark. The squid is translucent with most of its body being covered by yellow and brown chromatophores, with some areas just being clear. Its eyes are a silvery grey, with a green colour on the part of the eye under their skin.

A grass squid (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) swimming. Its mantle is horizontal and it has its limbs up and back. its skin is translucent with yellow chromatophores.

I don't trust them, they are a squid in the grass...

With a mantle length of 22 mm, Grass Squids (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) are one of the tiniest species of squid. They aren't quite as small as pygmy squids which belong to a different order.

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Just in time for #SQUIDtember