WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Are Vampire Squid?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb. In today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>another classic from the archives. In this one, we return

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<v Speaker 1>to a favorite subject of mine, cephalopods, to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>the not actually very scary vampire squid, which is neither

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<v Speaker 1>a squid nor a vampire that we know of. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb. Here, the ocean is mysterious,

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<v Speaker 1>arguably even more mysterious than space. But unlike space, the

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<v Speaker 1>ocean is teeming with a stupendous array of living things.

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<v Speaker 1>We haven't described even a fraction of these organisms, but

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<v Speaker 1>luckily we are familiar with the vampire squid. The vampire

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<v Speaker 1>squid Latin name vampira tooth, this infer analis isn't actually

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>pretty dark. The ocean, like the atmosphere, has strata. Vampire

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<v Speaker 1>squid live in the mesopelagic zone of the open ocean,

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<v Speaker 1>which starts where the sunny productive epopolagic zone of the

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<v Speaker 1>surface ends. This is down at around six hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty feet that's two hundred meters, where that surface zone

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<v Speaker 1>gives way to the dim, deep twilight zone of the

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

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<v Speaker 1>thousand meters below the surface. Like many other mesopolagic animals,

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<v Speaker 1>vampire squid dyne on bits of dead plant and animal

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<v Speaker 1>matter that filter down from above. Though these crimson be

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<v Speaker 1>caped misfits look rettening with their dark spiny underbellies, they're

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<v Speaker 1>not hunters and have very few defenses. Their self defense

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>squid already live 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 is based on the article Vampire squid don't

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<v Speaker 1>actually suck blood on housetu works dot com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Jescelin Shields. Brain Stuff is production of Heart Radio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with how stuffworks dot com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang and Ramsey Young. Four more podcasts from my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.