くコ:彡C:彡 彡. .彡

Colored + translation of Natto and Sillago renuniting after moving away for years! Happy birthday to Sillago @sasseraph !! Thank you for coloring this for me <<33

restocked my shelf @ Happibara Station :D come by if you’re around little tokyo, LA!

Strawberry, but make it deep sea 🍓✨️

Histioteuthis heteropsis, also known as strawberry squid, get their common name from the berry-like appearance of their bright-red bodies speckled with small light organs called photophores. These clever cephalopods use their crimson coloration and luminescent photophores to mask their silhouettes and hide from predators like sperm whales, dolphins, tunas, swordfish, and sharks that may be prowling the waters below.

Marine snow is on the menu for this cephalopod. 🍽️

Despite the name, the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is neither a vampire nor a squid, but the last surviving member of an ancient group of cephalopods. They thrive in the oxygen minimum zone, where oxygen levels are only a fraction of those near the surface.

Instead of hunting down prey, Vampyroteuthis feeds on marine snow—a flurry of dead plankton, poop, mucus, and other organic material sinking from the waters above. Two long, thin, sticky filaments collect bits of “snow.”

Their passive feeding strategy requires very little energy, making it ideal for life in low-oxygen environments where vampire squid thrive.

Relatively few predators can hunt in the oxygen minimum zone, but the vampire squid does not take any chances. That dark, reddish-brown color keeps Vampyroteuthis camouflaged in twilight waters where red light cannot reach. When threatened, vampire squid turn their cloak of webbed arms inside out, changing their appearance to confuse predators. 

With the help of deep-diving robots, MBARI scientists are answering fundamental questions about how this living fossil feeds, moves, and survives. Our work is also revealing the complex web of connections between the surface and the deep sea.