Rare Deep Sea Footage of a Dana Octopus Squid With Bioluminescent ‘Headlights’ on Its Two Arms

Scientists from the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre at The University of Western Australia captured exquisite and rare footage of a Dana octopus squid at more than a kilometer deep in the Samoan Passage of the Pacific Ocean.

A rare deep-sea squid has been captured on video at a depth of more than a kilometre underwater, by scientists from The University of Western Australia and Kelpie Geosciences in the UK.

The team was retrieving free-fall baited cameras that were dropped to as low as 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) deep when this gorgeous cephalopod with large bioluminescent photophores at the end of its two arms “attacked”. The squid evidently thought the cameras were prey.

The deep-sea hooked squid is one of the largest deep-water squid and is renowned for having two very large photophores on the end of two of its arms, which produce bright bioluminescent flashes to startle and disorientate prey when hunting. These are the largest known photophores in the natural world.

This is the one of only a few videos of a live Dana octopus squid as most specimens have been beached or found in the stomachs of whales.

Many records of this species are from strandings, accidental bycatch or from the stomach contents of whales,” Professor Jamieson said. “The rarity of live observations of these amazing animals makes every encounter valuable in gathering information on geographic locations, depth, and behaviour, plus it is such a unique animal that we hardly ever get to see, so we had to share it.