Ink impostors: Out of the darkness of the deep, ghostly clouds take shape

MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
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Published 2022-10-25
Out of the darkness of the deep, ghostly clouds take shape. What are these mysterious apparitions? When spooked by a predator, a squid may quickly escape, leaving behind a shroud of ink. This decoy distracts so the squid can jet to safety. Their ink shapes take on many forms—clouds, streams, dots, ropes, and more. These animal-look-alike shapes are known as pseudomorphs. We don’t know whether the squids are mimicking other animals, but here are some of our favorite pseudomorphs. As we explore the ocean, we continue to learn more about the animals in the mysterious midnight waters far below.

Animals in pseudomorph clips, in order of appearance:
01:06 Red-lipped comb jelly, Bathyctena chuni
01:13 Woolly siphonophore, Apolemia lanosa
01:24 Top hat jelly, Leuckartiara sp.
01:31 Red-grooved siphonophore, Apolemia rubriversa
01:37 Tower jelly, Neoturris sp.
01:45 Black-eyed squid, Gonatus onyx
01:52 Rocketship siphonophore, Chuniphyes multidentata
01:58 Cockatoo squid, Taonius sp.

More on squid ink:    • A Shot in the Dark: Alternative Uses ...  
More cephalopod videos:    • Celebrating cephalopods!  
More deep-sea animal Halloween videos:    • Halloween videos  

Producer/editor: Kristine Walz
Production team: Raúl Nava, Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun
Music: Scary Forest by HookSounds Originals from HookSounds.com
All Comments (21)
  • @JoekingK
    For those of you wondering what the bird-like squid is in the thumbnail, it's a Cockatoo squid in the family Cranchiidae.
  • @beautyforashes2022
    Oh wow, that was amazing! I had no idea that deep-sea squid could make their ink take on the shapes and or forms of other animals, to serve as a decoy. That just blows my mind, so cool.
  • @FreeAssange_
    That squid was like "dang give me a break I'm out of ink" 😂
  • @94D33M
    This guy and the jewel wasp are some crazy evolutionary marvels! Tbh every creature is, just because something is too common does not mean it sucks! Apart from humans though.
  • @ya_boi_salami
    these visually look like other creatures, but in the darkness of the deep sea, how useful is it when its likely whatever predator spooked them could be blind? is there more to the ink than just a visual thing?
  • @theGhostWolfe
    I think my favourite is the black-eyed squid doing real life Looney Tunes, leaving just a squid-shaped cloud of nothingness in its wake.
  • @daphnia-magna
    The music makes this video suitable for Halloween! 😶‍🌫😉
  • @spicyreef
    It's like a bunch of aliens in space... 🙂
  • @sandrawilkinson3782
    Amazing little critter,! It's camouflage makes it look adorable! Fake little mouth, the tentacles look as one part. 😍🥰🤗🤗🤯 too friggen adorable.
  • @AGDinCA
    Pseudomorphs are interesting, but I feel like they are really more of a human conjecture than a squid's intention. After all, creatures can't see anything after a certain depth. And, if squid are avoiding certain cetaceans, it seems unlikely that pseudomorphs would be able to fool echolocation. But I would be happy to be wrong about this!
  • @abhishekk6683
    You people are awesome. I think you should make a documentary on deep sea animals.