This “vampire” is a harmless scavenger.

Marine snow is on the menu for this cephalopod. Two thin, sticky tentacles collect drifting bits of dead plankton, poop, mucus, and other organic material sinking from the waters above. By scavenging on the snow sinking from the surface, Vampyroteuthis and many other deep-sea animals help capture carbon and lock it away in the ocean’s depths. Known as the biological carbon pump, this process is integral to ocean health and helps regulate Earth’s climate.

The vampire squid is ironically neither a vampire nor a squid. Vampyroteuthis is the last surviving member of an ancient group of cephalopods. They thrive in the oxygen minimum zone, an environment with just a fraction of the oxygen of waters near the surface.

Few predators can hunt in the oxygen minimum zone, but the vampire squid does not take any chances. Red light does not reach the deep sea, so that rusty red color helps Vampyroteuthis hide from predators prowling these twilight depths. When threatened, the vampire squid turns inside out, exposing rows of spiky, finger-like “cirri.” If danger remains, the tips of the vampire squid’s right arms glow blue-green to confuse predators. Vampire squid do not have an ink sac like shallow-water cephalopods, but they can release bioluminescent fluid that distracts predators while they make a quick escape.