The operators of the ocean-floor exploring vehicle E/V Nautilus chanced across this absolutely adorable googly-eyed purple cuttlefish, so what they they do? They spent the next five minutes making fun of it! [via Reddit]
The team spotted this Stubby Squid off the coast of California at a depth of 900 meters (2,950 feet). The stubby squid (Rossia pacifica) looks like a cross between an octopus and squid, but is more closely related to cuttlefish. This species spends life on the seafloor, activating a sticky mucus jacket and burrowing into the sediment to camouflage, leaving their eyes poking out to spot prey like shrimp and small fish. Rossia pacifica is found in the Northern Pacific from Japan to Southern California, most commonly seen up to 300m deep, but specimens have been collected at 1000m depth.
E/V Nautilus is exploring the ocean studying biology, geology, archeology, and more. Watch http://www.nautiluslive.org for live video from the ocean floor. For live dive updates follow along on social media at http://www.facebook.com/nautiluslive and http://www.twitter.com/evnautilus on Twitter. For more photos from our dives, check out our Instagram @nautiluslive.
Someone should remix this so that when the scientists are mocking it ("it looks like a child's toy!") the camera lurches up to see a giant purple Cthulhu looking in the murk above them. Cthulhu booms: "don't talk to me or my son ever again."
