Cephalopod · squid

Swordtail squid

Chiroteuthis calyx

PacificAtlanticIndianSouthernArctic A single ocean

Depth

Twilight zone, about 200 to 1,000 m

Size

Mantle more than 6 cm, tentacles almost twice as long as the whole animal

Diet

Small fish such as lanternfish, crustaceans

Zone

Twilight zone · 200 – 1,000 m

Key facts

• It fishes with a line. Motionless, it lets its two long tentacles hang down, their tips bearing glowing lures.
• When young, it has an ornate tail as long as its body. It thus mimics a stinging siphonophore, to deter predators.
• It loses this tail as it grows, and its body becomes rounder.
• It lives only in the temperate waters of the North Pacific.

Verified sources

1. MBARI : Juvenile squid avoids predators by imitating stinging jellies
2. Burford, Robison & Sherlock 2015, JMBA : Behaviour and mimicry in Chiroteuthis calyx
3. Tree of Life Web Project : Chiroteuthis calyx
4. CSU Monterey Bay, thèse : ontogenèse de Chiroteuthis calyx

In the game: To observe

In the same zone

Odd bobtail squidHeteroteuthis dispar LanternfishFamily Myctophidae HatchetfishArgyropelecus sp. Jewel squidHistioteuthis sp. PyrosomePyrosoma atlanticum Deep-sea red shrimpAcanthephyra purpurea