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What does a vampire squid eat?

STRANGE THINGS LURK IN THE planet’s deepest, darkest corners. And it doesn’t get much deeper and darker than the bottom of the ocean, or stranger than Vampyroteuthis infernalis – the ‘vampire squid from hell’.

This 30cm-long cephalopod may have the largest eyes, compared to body size, of any animal – all the better for detecting what little light is available at depths of 600-3,300m. Despite its name – inspired by its dark colour and the cloak-like webbing between its arms – the vampire squid is neither vampire nor squid. It is the sole member of its own cephalopod order. Like the octopus, it has eight legs, but is equipped with a pair of thin trailing filaments, which may be derived from the two extra arms possessed by squid.

Coated in sticky mucous, these filaments trap ‘marine snow’ – faeces, dead invertebrates, shed skin and