elizabethwisbar
Atlantic Brief Squid
I believe this to be an Atlantic Brief Squid. This animal was caught during a trawling excursion as part of BIO 362, just off the coast of Wrightsville Beach. Squid and other cephalopods have chromatophores that allow them to change color. This comes in handy when mating and evading predators. The chromatophores allow the squid to be camouflaged with the surrounding environment. Another defense squid have, which is prevalent in this photo, is ink. When threatened, squid can expel ink to distract predators while they escape quickly. The squid in my hand wasn't a huge fan of being held, and started releasing ink. You can see this by the dark color of the mantle, which is filling up with the ink.
Atlantic Brief Squid
I believe this to be an Atlantic Brief Squid. This animal was caught during a trawling excursion as part of BIO 362, just off the coast of Wrightsville Beach. Squid and other cephalopods have chromatophores that allow them to change color. This comes in handy when mating and evading predators. The chromatophores allow the squid to be camouflaged with the surrounding environment. Another defense squid have, which is prevalent in this photo, is ink. When threatened, squid can expel ink to distract predators while they escape quickly. The squid in my hand wasn't a huge fan of being held, and started releasing ink. You can see this by the dark color of the mantle, which is filling up with the ink.