How do squids change color? 🌈🦑 In the ocean’s twilight zone, glass squids like this one spotted by Nautilus Live rely on transparency to avoid predators, but when that fails, they activate backup camouflage. Tiny pigment sacs called chromatophores expand to darken their bodies and help them disappear into the deep-sea shadows. This remarkable ability to shift color isn’t just cool, it’s critical for survival in an open ocean with nowhere to hide. #Nautilus #Ocean #MarineBiology #Squid #Cephalo

For decades, marine biologists assumed that all squids laid their eggs in clusters on the sea floor, where the eggs developed and hatched without any help from their parents. However, MBARI scientists discovered that some female deep-sea squid, like this Gonatus onyx, brood their eggs by carrying them between their arms until the young hatch and swim away. Because they cannot swim very quickly, brooding squid may be easy prey for deep diving marine mammals. How's that for the ultimate sacrifice!