The Ram‘s Horn Squid – Laying Claim to the Title of "Weirdest Squid"
When it comes to strange squids, few come close to rivaling the exceptional weirdness of the elusive ram‘s horn squid (Spirula spirula). This deep-sea cephalopod stands out for its alien features, including a unique internal shell resembling a ram’s horn that assists with buoyancy regulation. With limited sightings and interactions with humans, it remains an enigma quietly drifting in cold, dark ocean depths.
An Intriguing Discovery – Unraveling the Mysteries of the Ram‘s Horn Squid
The ram’s horn squid receives its common name from its most distinctive attribute – the specialized internal shell that resembles the coiled horn of a ram. This rigid structure contains gas-filled chambers that the squid uses to control buoyancy, allowing high-precision depth regulation in its deep-sea environment.
Scientists first discovered the existence of the ram’s horn squid in 1844 when Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup analyzed a strange coiled shell obtained from a museum collection. Details slowly emerged about the shell‘s owner over subsequent decades thanks to additional specimens from the stomachs of sperm whales and beaked whales – predators dwelling alongside the ram‘s horn squid in deep waters.
However, observing the living animal in person long evaded researchers. Not until 2001 did scientists capture the first-ever images and video footage of the ram’s horn squid swimming intact in its natural habitat off the coast of the Chatham Islands near New Zealand. This long-awaited look at the living creature in motion opened exciting new research opportunities to unravel lingering mysteries about the ram’s horn squid’s biology and behavior.
 |
|---|
| The ram‘s horn squid photographed 3,281 feet deep off the coast of New Zealand. Its unique internal shell assists with remaining neutrally buoyant at depth. (Source) |
An Overview of Key Facts
Thanks to recent advances gaining access to observe and study intact specimens, details continue emerging about the ram’s horn squid’s attributes and way of life. Here‘s an overview:
Scientific Classification
- Phylum: Mollusca
- Class: Cephalopoda
- Order: Sepiida
- Family: Spirulidae
- Genus & Species: Spirula spirula
Size: Up to 5 inches long
Known Habitat Depth Range: 490 – 7,820+ feet
Estimated Habitat Temperature Range: 41°F – 64°F
Diet: Carnivorous – Consumes small crustaceans & fish
Distinguishing Anatomical Features:
- Possesses an internal coiled aragonite shell divided into gas-filled chambers which assists with buoyancy regulation
- Large circular fins for swimming
- 10 short arms equipped with toothed suckers
- Ink sac for ejecting dark ink to confuse predators
- One of the largest body size to eye size ratios among cephalopods
Reproduction:
- Mating rarely observed; suggested to occur deep with females storing sperm then later laying eggs close to the sea surface
- Eggs hatch into young paralarvae bearing smaller versions of the adults’ internal shells
Behavioral Notes:
- Primarily a vertical migrant – spends daylight hours at greater depths up to half a mile down & ascends at night toward upper 2,000 feet likely following prey movements
- Jets water to swim quickly with ability to navigate complex topography
- When threatened, propels ink while flashing bioluminescent photophores along its arms and visceral mass to confuse predators
- Interacts with luminous particulate matter in the water column in ways unique for cephalopods that may facilitate orientation, communication, and predatory behaviors
The ram’s horn squid certainly possesses several weird and wonderful adaptations for life in the ocean depths. Next, we’ll survey other bizarre squids that give this strange cephalopod a run for its money.
Mind-Boggling Diversity – Spotlighting Other Weird & Extreme Squids
The ram’s horn squid has its fair share of oddities, but it represents just one of many freakishly weird squid species occupying lightless depths spanning thousands of feet deep. These extreme habitats allow unique evolutionary offshoots yielding fantastical forms.
While an exhaustive list would encompass far too many to detail, here I’ll spotlight a selection of squids showcasing particularly extreme morphologies and behaviors demonstrating fascinating adaptations:
1. The Bigfin Squid (Magnapinna sp.)
Perhaps the current front runner for the weirdest squid title, the bigfin squid exhibits downright alien characteristics. Its immense triangular fins and absurdly stretchy spaghetti-like tentacles defy expectations for squids. Observations via remote submersibles surprised researchers with the lengths the tentacles could elongate. Estimates indicate while resting, they extend up to 16 feet, greater than 6 times the body length. When attacking prey, they stretch as far as 24 feet – over 8 times body length!
 |
|---|
| A bigfin squid hovering in the Gulf of Mexico, 2006. Its incredibly lengthy tentacles normally kept compact balloon out when attacking. (Source: NOAA) |
In addition to impressive tentacles, the bigfin demonstrates weird feeding strategies. Video captures reveal it attracting scavenging shrimp and smaller fish by undulating its fins while drifting with its glowing tentacle tips illuminated. When prey draws near, it rapidly balloons its elongated tentacles outward to ensnare victims.
While much mystery still shrouds this bizarre squid, evidence indicates it occupies extreme depths nearing 3 miles down across a wide habitat range spanning the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Additional details on bigfin squid attributes and behaviors >>
2. The Cockatoo Squid (Histioteuthis sp.)
This rowdy cephalopod derives its name from parrot-like hooked tentacles resembling a cockatoo crest. Its standout features don’t stop there. Warty red protuberances coat the head, body, and arms. To add to its gnarly appearance, the cockatoo squid possesses formidable beak-like jaws bearing jagged teeth-like projections for seizing sizeable prey including fish and other squids.
Found in temperate and tropical oceans around the globe, these squids occupy depths nearing a half mile. Beyond looks, little information exists regarding their ecology and behaviors, ensuring more surprises likely await future investigations of this belligerent oddball.
3. The Octopus Squid (Grimpoteuthis sp.)
Belonging to a group dubbed the dumbo octopuses for their prominent ear-like fins, the so-called octopus squid indeed appears an odd half-octopus, half squid chimera. Evolution molded a hybrid fusion of traits – a squid’s streamlined torpedo-shape mantle plus an octopus’s arrangement of eight thick arms and two elongated feeding tentacles. Its large rounded head houses the largest eyes relative to body size of any animal on Earth.
Ranging throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans these squids occupy depths nearing 3 miles with evidence suggesting they may migrate across ocean basins. Unique circular hooks lining their suckers likely assist gripping gelatinous prey in frigid deep waters. Much continues unknown regarding their ecology. Further octopus squid details >>
4. The Sparkling Enope Squid (Watasenia scintillans)
Few sights rival the dream-like beauty of the sparkling enope squid with its dazzling bioluminescent light shows. These small squids inhabit ocean depths around half a mile in the Pacific Ocean off Japan where researchers recently discovered them erupting in spectacular blue and red bioluminescent displays synchronized among large shoals.
Employing an ingenious dual visual system, these squids produce blue light from photophores near their eyes seemingly functioning similar to headlights to view their environment. Red photophores running laterally across their bodies generate precise colorful rhythmic flashing patterns scientists hypothesize may facilitate communication and schooling behaviors. Glimpse mesmerizing video footage >>
Concluding Thoughts on the Ram’s Horn Squid’s “Weirdest Squid” Title
While cephalopod diversity never ceases to dazzle, the ram’s horn squid remains in an echelon of its own regarding exceptional weirdness thanks to its coiled internal shell and scarce documented sightings leaving much about its biology and behavior still shrouded in mystery.
However, competition certainly looms from other freaky squids like the alien-esque bigfin squid with its unreal extendable spaghetti tentacles, the cockatoo squid’s fearsome beaked appearance, the octopus squid’s octo-squid hybrid body, and sparkling enope squid’s glowing underwater light shows.
As remote access to extreme depths improves, researchers continue unlocking secrets of these deep-sea denizens. Each glimpse reveals greater magical biodiversity previously unfathomable occupying our oceans’ dark abyssal plains. We’ve just scratched the surface of wonders awaiting discovery down below where imaginative realms collide with reality in Earth’s harshest habitat.
