'Piglet squid' spotted in deep sea dive
Marine scientists have released a stunning video of a strange critter, the piglet squid, floating along with its tentacles waving above its head in the central Pacific Ocean near Palmyra Atoll. Scientists spotted the squid about 1,385 metres below the ocean surface, while aboard the exploration vehicle (E/V) Nautilus. "What are you?" one of the voices in the video can be heard asking, as the small creature comes into view. "Is that a squid? I think it's a squid. It's like a bloated squid with tiny tentacles and a little hat that's waving around. And it looks like it's got a massive, inflated mantle cavity. I've never seen anything quite like this before." That's an accurate description of the piglet squid, which is also known for its siphon that looks like the nose of a young pig. Piglet squids, like all cephalopods, have radically different bodies from animals that we're used to seeing on land. The piglet squid's unusual mantle-to-legs ratio is, in part, a consequence of how it moves through the water. According to Nautilus scientists, that mantle is filled with ammonia, which the squid uses to control its buoyancy.
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