Molluscs
Silo of cephalopods, gastropods and bivalves.
Humboldt squid
Dosidicus gigas
Humboldt squid
Nicknamed the "red devil" for its shifting colour and aggression during group hunts, it can hunt in shoals of several hundred and communicates by rapidly changing colour.
🌊 0–1200 m
- ⚡ Changes colour in a fraction of a second, probably to coordinate group hunting
- ⚡ Tolerates extremely oxygen-poor zones inaccessible to most of its predators
Giant squid
Architeuthis dux
Giant squid
The source of the Kraken myth for centuries, it is one of the largest invertebrate creatures known, never filmed alive in its natural habitat before 2004.
🌊 300–1000 m
- ⚡ The largest eyes in the animal kingdom (up to 27 cm in diameter)
- ⚡ Copper-based blue blood, adapted to carrying oxygen in cold, deep water
Vampire squid
Vampyroteuthis infernalis
Vampire squid
Despite its terrifying name, "vampire squid from hell", it is a peaceful creature that doesn't hunt but instead filters organic debris drifting in total darkness.
🌊 600–1200 m
- ⚡ Releases a cloud of bioluminescent mucus instead of ink to escape predators
- ⚡ Can turn its membrane inside out like a cape bristling with false spines
Chambered nautilus
Nautilus pompilius
Chambered nautilus
A true living fossil whose shape has barely changed in over 500 million years, it navigates using a chambered shell that works like a natural submarine.
🌊 0–700 m
- ⚡ A shape virtually unchanged for over 500 million years
- ⚡ Regulates its depth like a submarine, using a shell with gas-filled chambers
Blue-ringed octopus
Hapalochlaena lunulata
Blue-ringed octopus
Tiny and unassuming, it is one of the most venomous animals in the sea: its fluorescent blue rings are a warning to be taken very seriously.
🌊 0–20 m
- ⚡ Venom (tetrodotoxin) among the most powerful in the animal kingdom, with no known antidote
- ⚡ Bioluminescent-style rings that can flash in a fraction of a second
Dumbo octopus
Grimpoteuthis sp.
Dumbo octopus
The cephalopod observed at the greatest depths ever recorded: it owes its name to its two ear-shaped fins reminiscent of the Disney elephant.
🌊 1000–7000 m
- ⚡ The cephalopod observed at the greatest depths ever recorded, down to about 7,000 m
- ⚡ Swims by flapping two ear-shaped fins, a technique unique among octopuses
Giant Pacific octopus
Enteroctopus dofleini
Giant Pacific octopus
Long feared as the "devilfish" in the legends of Indigenous peoples of the North American Pacific coast, this largest known octopus in the world turns out to be remarkably intelligent, able to open jars and recognise individual humans.
🌊 0–1500 m
- ⚡ Has nine brains, one central and one in each of its eight arms, able to act almost independently
- ⚡ Intelligence documented in the lab: able to open jars and recognise certain individual humans
Mimic octopus
Thaumoctopus mimicus
Mimic octopus
Able to imitate the appearance and behaviour of some fifteen different species, including venomous fish and sea snakes, to fool its predators.
🌊 0–25 m
- ⚡ Able to imitate the appearance of about fifteen different species, including venomous fish
- ⚡ Chooses which species to mimic based on the predator detected nearby
Giant triton
Charonia tritonis
Giant triton
Named after Triton, the sea's messenger god in Greek mythology who blew a conch shell to calm or unleash the waves, this huge sea snail is also one of the few natural predators able to keep crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks in check on coral reefs.
🌊 0–30 m
- ⚡ One of the only natural predators able to keep devastating crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks in check
- ⚡ Its shell has served for millennia as a ceremonial wind instrument in many Pacific cultures