Emily Chan
It isn’t the first time a female squid has been observed with her eggs. In 2002, scientists from MBARI saw a female squid carrying 3,000 small eggs in Monterey Bay. She was from the species Gonatus onyx, which is also part of the Gonatidae family.
In ocean regions where food is in limited supply and lots of predators are around, having many smaller eggs can be beneficial as it increases the offspring’s odds of survival. Larger eggs are better for a stable environment with fewer threats.
The squid in the Gulf of California was approximately 3,000 feet deeper than the one from Monterey Bay.
Venturing into deeper waters with extremely low oxygen levels may be a deliberate strategy to avoid predators like sharks and seals.
“This remarkable sighting underscores the diversity of ways that animals adapt to the unique challenges of living in the deep,” Haddock said.
