Still Waters Posted September 26, 2012 #1 Share Posted September 26, 2012 The secret life of a mysterious creature that feeds on the decaying dead in the unlit depths of the ocean has been revealed. The squid is so weird that it is known as a ‘phylogenetic relic’. It has the honour of occupying a taxonomic category all of its own, combining features of octopuses and squids in a unique evolutionary formula that has survived for millions of years. http://www.cosmosmag...d-hell-revealed 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unusual Posted September 26, 2012 #2 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bavarian Raven Posted September 26, 2012 #3 Share Posted September 26, 2012 i like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRIPTIC CHAMELEON Posted September 26, 2012 #4 Share Posted September 26, 2012 What a cool animal its like a vulture of the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagestic Posted September 27, 2012 #5 Share Posted September 27, 2012 It's like something that only H.P. Lovecraft would have thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted September 27, 2012 #6 Share Posted September 27, 2012 This creature was shown alive on one of the David Attenborough specials on the deep ocean habitat. The television program made it seem much larger, but there was really no point of reference for size. As I recall, the animal was not black but rather a dark burnt-orange red color, not unusual for animals in the deep sea where red light does not penetrate and thus red creatures appear black. It did indeed have huge eyes of an eerie luminous blue color. When it felt threatened by the submersible's lights and camera, it folded it's entire umbrella structure around its body, looking rather like a spiny football. While it is certainly weird, feeding on dead animals is not unique to this cephalopod, the more famous (and also quite strange) Chambered Nautilus also takes dead prey, but does not consume them in the same manner, it just bites off chucks. If you ever get to watch any well done program about deep sea life, it is always amazing to see the truly alien creatures that live there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_dreamer Posted September 27, 2012 #7 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I've seen this creature on TV. Deep sea life is very interesting. Almost like aliens from another planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlehawk Posted September 27, 2012 #8 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Wow. Life on other planets could be extremely odd indeed, if life like this exists right here on our own. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chooky88 Posted September 27, 2012 #9 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior Chubb Posted September 27, 2012 #10 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) And there was me thinking there was no such thing as Hell. Until the Squid from Hell turned up... Edited September 27, 2012 by Junior Chubb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Waters Posted September 27, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted September 27, 2012 There's a video in this one - http://www.dailymail...-dead-fish.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino666 Posted September 27, 2012 #12 Share Posted September 27, 2012 "Specimens are typically 13cm in length" Not big enough. Needs to be about 7-8 meters in length and chews on tourists it's dragged from cruise liners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justcalmebubba Posted September 27, 2012 #13 Share Posted September 27, 2012 damnit i was wondering where i put the pic of my x wife at! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Fluffs Posted September 27, 2012 #14 Share Posted September 27, 2012 As soon as I saw the picture I instantly thought of Lovecraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbitran Posted September 27, 2012 #15 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Fascinating! I've always been really very interested in cephalopods and marine life (having of course been a marine biologist myself for a time), but this one is really very near the top of my list. It's just fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwn2earth_girl Posted September 27, 2012 #16 Share Posted September 27, 2012 very nifty creature. i'm waiting for the next new animal discovery : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted September 27, 2012 #17 Share Posted September 27, 2012 As said before(post #6), deep sea life is so very interesting and amazes even veteran scientists. Great article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeptic Chicken Posted September 28, 2012 #18 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I KNEW that the oceans depths sported creepy stuff. Maybe someone saw that thing, over exagerated it and called it Cthulu? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarChild 83 Posted September 28, 2012 #19 Share Posted September 28, 2012 the youtube video is pretty cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthurion2 Posted September 28, 2012 #20 Share Posted September 28, 2012 that's a cool animal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Supertypo Posted September 28, 2012 #21 Share Posted September 28, 2012 cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava_Lady Posted September 28, 2012 #22 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I admit it's a pretty cool little cephalopod, but, vampires are the living dead feeding on life. This guy is alive and feeds on the dead... Maybe they could have given it a name. Something like, necro-squid or calamari-thanatophile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeptic Chicken Posted September 28, 2012 #23 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I admit it's a pretty cool little cephalopod, but, vampires are the living dead feeding on life. This guy is alive and feeds on the dead... Maybe they could have given it a name. Something like, necro-squid or calamari-thanatophile. But what of Vampire Bats? Yes, a vampire is a European paranormal creature, but a vampire is also something that prey's ruthlessly on others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painnsufferin Posted September 29, 2012 #24 Share Posted September 29, 2012 And how does it taste ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava_Lady Posted September 29, 2012 #25 Share Posted September 29, 2012 But what of Vampire Bats? Yes, a vampire is a European paranormal creature, but a vampire is also something that prey's ruthlessly on others. Yes, I see your point. Vampire bats drink blood from other animals and vampire squids eat dead animals... ruthlessly preying on ocean carrion drifting across the bottom of the sea. hehehe! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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