Remarkable Footage of a Big Snouted Banded Piglet Squid Shot From the E/V Nautilus Near Palmyra Atoll
While exploring the waters off Palmyra Atoll, the expedition crew on the E/V Nautilus spotted a mysterious transparent creature with a big head, a big snout and a grouping of tentacles up top was swimming towards them. As it turns out, the creature was a very rarely sighted banded piglet squid, a small cephalopod of the Cranchiidae (glass squid) variety.
Related Laughing Squid PostsAn Up Close View of a Gorgeous Translucent Cockatoo Squid Swimming Deep in the Salish SeaA Ballooning Gulper Eel Reveals Its Massive JawsAn Unexpectedly Curious Sperm Whale Explores a Bright Yellow ROV During a 2015 Nautilus Dive"What are you?" "What is that?!" The Nautilus team enjoyed a quick close-up with a see-through piglet squid (Helicocranchia sp.), named for its large siphon that looks like a snout. Able to regulate buoyancy with an ammonia-filled internal chamber, this stunning squid is often observed with its tentacles flared above its head.
Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard and Subscribe by Email.
The post Remarkable Footage of a Big Snouted Banded Piglet Squid Shot From the E/V Nautilus Near Palmyra Atoll first appeared on Laughing Squid.