Emily Chan
A new species of vampire squid was found swimming deep in the waters of the South China Sea off Hainan Island in China. It is only the second known species in the world.
The first identified species, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, has been detected in temperate and tropical ocean environments in several areas across the globe. They reach up to about one foot in length and feed on small invertebrates, dead animals, and feces.
The squid was officially recognized in 1903 after a German marine biologist named Carl Chun led a deep-sea expedition. Initially, it was thought to be an octopus but was reclassified as a squid. A bunch of other species were later described, but they ended up being members of the same species.
The new species were juvenile forms of V. infernalis. As the squid matures, it grows a second set of fins near its head, and its original fins disappear.
In a new study that appeared in BioRxiv, researchers described the second species of vampire squid they found in the South China Sea in 2016. They named it V. pseudoinfernalis. It was located around 2,600 to 3,300 feet underwater in what is called the twilight zone.
At such depths, very little light from the surface shines through, and oxygen levels get extremely low. Not many organisms can survive in the twilight zone.
V. pseudoinfernalis has unique physical characteristics that distinguish it from V. infernalis. For instance, its two photophores, organs that produce light, are positioned roughly halfway between the fins and the end of the body. In V. infernalis, the organs are a third of the way between these two points.
Furthermore, V. pseudoinfernalis has a pointed tail, while V. infernalis does not have a tail at all. On its lower jaw, the new species also has a beak with an elongated wing. Genetic analysis has indicated that V. pseudoinfernalis is a separate species.
“We will analyze more specimens to ensure that observed morphological differences are consistent in the future,” Dajun Qiu, the lead author of the study and a marine biologist at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, said. “It seems likely that its diet is similar to its better-known relative, but research is ongoing.”
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