Players of No Man’s Sky may be proud that they’ve racked up more species than have been discovered here on Earth, but that doesn’t mean that Mama Nature and good ol’ evolution can’t still dazzle us with their own seemingly endless array of quirky, adorable creatures. Case in point: the Rossia pacifica—a.k.a. the “Stubby Squid”—which is featured in the above video and looks like it’s a big fan of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” if you catch our oceanic drift.
Gizmodo recently reported on the finding of this particular Stubby Squid, which is actually more closely related to a cuttlefish, but hey—it is a Cephalopod. It was spotted by the Exploration Vessel Nautilus (or E/V Nautilus) off the coast of California at a depth of about 900 meters, or 3,000 feet. This is an especially impressive depth considering how high this little heavily veined purple brain bag looks. Seriously, this aquatic sock puppet has seen some things.
According to the description posted along with the video, “this species spends life on the seafloor, activating a sticky mucus jacket and burrowing into the sediment to camouflage, leaving their eyes poking out to spot prey like shrimp and small fish.” (By the by, “sticky mucus jacket” is on the exact opposite end of the cool-jacket spectrum from Poe Dameron’s.)
If you ever wanted to find one of these little cuttle buddies (get it?!), they usually hang out in the Northern Pacific from Southern California to Japan, and have been spotted at depths of up to 4,260 feet. ‘Cause, you know, these Stubby Squids like to go deep man, like, real deep…Â
What do you think about this Stubby Squid and its penchant for looking like it’s getting its mind blown by literally everything? Blow our minds in the comments below!
Images: The Ocean Exploration Trust
