The underwater world holds many mysteries. Scientists recently discovered a squid with big green eyes, like an alien in a science fiction movie.
Imagine an alien from a science fiction movie with big green eyes. That's the oddity found by scientists who found the strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis) in a dimly lit underwater zone, off the coast of California, United States. The dimly lit zone is a part of the ocean that is deep enough, where sunlight can barely penetrate
This strange animal was discovered by a team of scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) last month. They told Live Science that the discovery was unexpected and surprising.
Bruce Robison, a senior scientist from MBARI said they were actually researching Monterey Canyon, an underwater canyon on the west coast of America. They use a robotic submarine (ROV) named Doc Ricketts.
This squid with alien eyes is only 13 cm long. He was found at a depth of 725 meters in Monterey Canyon.
According to the team, this squid has 1 large green eye and 1 small eye. These large green eyes are thought to detect prey in the dark ocean.
This type of squid actually has 2 eye shapes that are the same as a child. But when he grew up, his left eye seemed to swell and became strange like an alien eye.
"This squid rolls its tentacles when it wants to swim slowly. But if it wants to move fast, it spits water through its siphon (hose) organ," said Robison, quoted from Live Science, Monday (4/4/2022).