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Vampire squid
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===Antipredator behavior=== Like many deep-sea cephalopods, the vampire squid lacks [[Cephalopod ink|ink]] sacs. This, along with their low metabolic rate, lead to it adapting various alternate methods of defence. If disturbed, it will curl its arms up outwards and wrap them around its body, turning itself inside-out in a way, making itself seem larger and exposing the spiny projections on its tentacles (the cirri). The underside of the cape is heavily pigmented, concealing most of the body's photophores. The glowing arm tips are clustered together far above the animal's head, diverting attack away from critical areas. This [[Anti-predator adaptation|anti-predator behavior]] is dubbed the "pumpkin" or "pineapple" posture.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8oWnbcLI40&t=33s |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/X8oWnbcLI40 |archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live |title=What the vampire squid really eats|last=Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)|date=26 September 2012|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Vampire Squid Turns "Inside Out" |publisher = National Geographic |date=4 February 2010 |access-date = 3 June 2011 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100203-squid-vampire-threatened-video }}</ref> The armtips [[Regeneration (biology)|regenerate]], so if they are bitten off, they can serve as a diversion allowing the animal to escape while its predator is distracted.{{sfn|Robison |Reisenbichler |Hunt |Haddock |2003}} If highly agitated, it may eject a sticky cloud of bioluminescent mucus containing innumerable orbs of blue light from its arm tips.<ref>{{cite web |title = Vampire Squid |publisher = Aquarium of the Pacific |access-date = 18 February 2025 |url=https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/vampire_squid }}</ref> <!-- {{Dubious|date=October 2024|reason=Is there a pore or similar structure on the arm tips that eject the mucus, instead of the siphon being used to blow it at threats (as in other cephalopods)?}} --> This luminous barrage, which may last nearly 10 minutes, would presumably serve to dazzle would-be predators and allow the vampire squid to disappear into the dark without the need to swim far. The glowing "ink" is also able to stick to the predator, creating what is called the "burglar alarm effect" (making the vampire squid's would-be predator more visible to secondary predators, similar to the [[Atolla jellyfish|''Atolla'' jellyfish]]'s light display). The display is made only if the animal is very agitated, due to the metabolic cost of mucus regeneration. Their aforementioned bioluminescent "fireworks" are combined with the writhing of glowing arms, along with erratic movements and escape trajectories, making it difficult for a predator to identify the squid itself among multiple sudden targets. The vampire squid's retractile filaments have been suggested to play a larger role in predator avoidance via both detection and escape mechanisms.<ref name=":2"/> Despite these defence mechanisms, vampire squids have been found among the stomach contents of large [[Pelagic fish#Deep water fish|deepwater fish]], including [[giant grenadier]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Drazen |first1=Jeffrey C |last2=Buckley |first2=Troy W |last3=Hoff |first3=Gerald R |year=2001 |title=The feeding habits of slope dwelling macrourid fishes in the eastern North Pacific |journal=Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=909β935 |doi=10.1016/S0967-0637(00)00058-3|bibcode=2001DSRI...48..909D }}</ref> and deep-diving mammals, such as [[whale]]s and [[sea lion]]s.
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