WEBVTT - What Are Vampire Squid?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb Here. The ocean is mysterious, arguably even

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<v Speaker 1>more mysterious than space. But unlike space, the ocean is

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<v Speaker 1>teeming with a stupendous array of living things. We haven't

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<v Speaker 1>described even a fraction of these organisms, but luckily we

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<v Speaker 1>are familiar with the vampire squid, the vampire squid Latin

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<v Speaker 1>name vampera tooth. This infra analis isn't actually a squid,

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<v Speaker 1>and it definitely isn't a vampire squid from Hell, which

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<v Speaker 1>is what that scientific name translates to. It is a

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<v Speaker 1>cephalopod like octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish, but the vampire squid

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<v Speaker 1>has a taxonomic order all to itself, and that's because

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<v Speaker 1>it shares traits with both squids and octopuses, not because

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<v Speaker 1>it's a blood sucking undead creature of the night. Although

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<v Speaker 1>it is blood red in color and does have a

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<v Speaker 1>dark webbing between its arms that looks a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>like a cape, and where it lives it's always pretty dark.

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<v Speaker 1>The ocean, like the atmosphere, has strata. Vampire squid live

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<v Speaker 1>in the mesopelagic zone of the open ocean, which starts

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<v Speaker 1>where the sunny productive epipolagic zone of the surface ends.

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<v Speaker 1>This is down at around six hundred and sixty feet

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<v Speaker 1>that's two hundred meters where that surface zone gives way

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<v Speaker 1>to the dim, deep twilight zone of the mesopelagic which

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<v Speaker 1>extends to around thirteen thousand feet or one thousand meters

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<v Speaker 1>below the surface. Like many other mesopelagic animals, vampire squid

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<v Speaker 1>dyne on bits of dead plant and animal matter that

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<v Speaker 1>filter down from above. Though these crimson be caped misfits

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<v Speaker 1>look threatening with their dark, spiny underbellies, they're not hunters

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<v Speaker 1>and have very few defenses. Their self defense options are

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<v Speaker 1>to turn themselves into a squishy, black spiny ball, like

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<v Speaker 1>a particularly dirty pair of socks, or to spray junk

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<v Speaker 1>at their enemy. The cephalopods living in shallower water protect

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<v Speaker 1>themselves with jets of dark ink, but since vampire squid

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<v Speaker 1>already lived in the dark, they squirt out a colorless,

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<v Speaker 1>bioluminescent fluid to confuse potential predators. Vampire squid also have

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<v Speaker 1>little lights at the end of their eight long sectionless arms.

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<v Speaker 1>Nobody's completely sure what they're for, but they might use

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<v Speaker 1>them to communicate with other vampire squid that they meet,

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<v Speaker 1>and what we do know for certain is that they're

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<v Speaker 1>not using them to hypnotize anybody and suck their blood probably.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>mysterious topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot

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<v Speaker 1>com