bogleech: muthr: bogleech: One thing that isn’t always mentioned about Vampyroteuthis and may
bogleech: muthr: bogleech: One thing that isn’t always mentioned about Vampyroteuthis and may be disappointing for some people is that the “spikes” lining its arms are completely soft and rubbery. They don’t serve as a physical defense at all, but act as highly sensitive little feelers! When it flips inside out, it’s surrounding itself with a sensory array on all sides while simultaneously making itself smaller looking and darker. It’s not a “pincushion,” but a stealth mode with enhanced perception. Also, despite being called the “Vampire Squid”, it actually has a really passive method of eating! Unlike most other cephalopods, which are almost entirely predatory, Vampyrotheuthis is more or less a scavenger. It has a thin mucus that covers the “spikes” and cirri that catch various floating debris, from algae to floating leftovers of other organisms … so essentially “marine snow”, which it then scrapes into its mouth. So the vicious Vampire Squid doesn’t even actively hunt live prey! ArticleResearch Paper yeah and it EVOLVED to be extra scary looking, like it uses its “headlamps” and other lights to intimidate attackers, but it’s just a big, soft, mushy, sewage-eating fraidy cat. -- source link
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