【】

For likely the first time, biologists captured a wild, elusive ram’s horn squid, or Spirula spirula, live on video.
The deep ocean — particularly the twilight zone, a dark realm extending some 660 to 3,300 feet below the surface — is little known and woefully unexplored. When navigating the depths in submersibles or using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), marine biologists can spot rarely (or never) seen creatures. In late October, a Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition filmed the Spirula spirula floating vertically at some 2,850 feet underwater.
"Exciting news!" the institute, which explores the ocean, tweeted on Oct. 27. "This appears to be the FIRST observation of Spirula, aka ram's horn squid, alive + in its natural environment. Very rarely seen or captured, they have many extinct relatives, but are only living member of genus Spirula, family Spirulidae, and order Spirulida."
Top squid experts, like Michael Vecchione, a cephalopod expert at the Smithsonian Institution, had never before seen the ram’s horn squid in its natural world.
At 54 seconds into the 55-second clip below, the squid exhibits its astonishing speed, as it bolts out of the frame.
Tweet may have been deleted
The ram’s horn squid is so named for the shape of its coiled, interior shell, which the animals use to control their buoyancy in the ocean. The intriguing shells wash up on beaches, and some are sold online.
The ocean's twilight zone is a continually remarkable place, with remarkable squids. Curious, rarely seen giant squids have approached flashing lures in the dark water. And marine biologists recently found evidence that a large shark and squid fought in the deep sea, after finding telltale sucker marks on the shark's body.
SEE ALSO:New giant squid footage shows they're not terrible monsters, after all"It’s the majesty of nature,” Nathan Robinson, a researcher at the Oceanogràfic Foundation, a marine conservation organization, told Mashable about the deep sea tussle.
TopicsAnimals
相关文章
Photos show the Blue Cut fire blazing a path of destruction in California
A fast moving wildfire continued raging near San Bernadino, California, forcing the evacuation of at2025-04-03Kanye West goes on a rant and ends his concert early in Sacramento
Just days after defending Donald Trump, Kanye West called out Beyoncé and Jay Z on stage befo2025-04-03Can filthy VR headsets give you herpes? We have answers.
Rumors about hot, new technology are almost always exciting, except when the rumor is about a potent2025-04-037 smoky beers to challenge your taste buds
Smoked beer — Rauchbierin German —traditionally acquires its particular flavor from heat2025-04-03You can now play 'Solitaire' and 'Tic
Google just added two new fun Easter eggs to its search results. 。You can now play。 Solitaire 。and 。 Ti2025-04-03There's a vagina in 'Watch Dogs 2' and Ubisoft is removing it
Watch Dogs 2 has a problem beyond its broken multiplayer features, and it's completely NSFW.Watch Do2025-04-03
最新评论