Watch the first-ever footage of a rare deep-sea squid in the northeastern Pacific
A rare sighting of a bigfin squid near an underwater mountain off California is the first confirmed live observation of the bizarre animal in the northeastern Pacific, researchers say.
Researchers have captured the first-ever footage of a rare deep-sea squid known as the bigfin squid (Magnapinna) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The video, captured by an uncrewed submersible exploring underwater mountains called seamounts off the coast of California, shows the squid hovering over the seafloor with its arms and tentacles bent at a 90-degree angle.
This particular pose, called the "elbow pose," may play a role in the squid's feeding behavior, as the extended arms and tentacles can capture passing prey. Bigfin squids are the deepest-dwelling known squid, found at depths exceeding 20,000 feet, and their tentacles and arms can be 20 times longer than their bodies. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed the sighting, which is significant as bigfin squids were previously only observed off Hawaii in 2001, and there are around 70 recorded sightings or collections worldwide.
Written by urgent.news from Live Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
