Vampire Squid (
Vampyroteuthis infernalis
)
The vampire squid is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in extreme deep sea conditions. It is able to live and breathe normally in the minimum zone at oxygen saturation as low as 3%. Of all deep-sea cephalopods, their mass-specific metabolic rate is the lowest. If disturbed, it will curl its arms up outwards and wrap them around its body, turning itself inside-out in a way, exposing spiny projections. It may eject a sticky cloud of bioluminescent mucus containing innumerable orbs of blue light from the arm tips, presumably to daze would-be predators.
