Vampire Squid: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Ocean Oddities · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. The 'vampire' squid does not drink blood. It feeds on detritus, and its name came from its dark colour and cloaklike webbing.
2. If disturbed, it curls its arms up over its body, turning itself inside-out to seem larger and show off its spiny cirri.
3. When really upset, it can puff out a sticky, glowing cloud filled with tiny blue lights. The show can last almost 10 minutes.
4. For its size, it has the biggest eyes of any animal: one just 15 cm long has eyes 2.5 cm wide.
5. A mother may look after her eggs for as long as 400 days until they hatch.

The quiz

1. What does the vampire squid actually feed on?

• Fish blood
• Seal pups
• Plankton swarms
• Detritus (correct)

It feeds on detritus, not blood.

2. What does the vampire squid do with its arms when disturbed?

• Drops them off
• Curls them over its body (correct)
• Waves them wildly
• Hides them in sand

It curls its arms over its body, turning itself inside-out to seem larger.

3. What colour are the glowing orbs in its mucus cloud?

• Blue (correct)
• Red
• Green
• White

The sticky cloud is filled with countless tiny blue lights.

4. How wide are the eyes of a 15 cm vampire squid?

• 0.5 cm
• 1.5 cm
• 5 cm
• 2.5 cm (correct)

A squid 15 cm long has eyes 2.5 cm across, proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom.

5. For up to how long may a female brood her eggs?

• 40 days
• 400 days (correct)
• 4 days
• 4,000 days

She may look after her eggs for as long as 400 days.

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