During a scientific cruise aboard MBARI’s research vessel Rachel Carson on January 29, biologists from our education and conservation partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, encountered a baby glass squid (family Cranchiidae). MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Ventana filmed this little squid bobbing along in the water column 475 meters (1,558 feet) underwater in Monterey Bay.

Distinguishing juvenile glass squids from video can be challenging. Most of their identifying features are too small to see even with a high-resolution 4K camera. Experts in MBARI’s Video Lab suspect this individual was a juvenile cockatoo squid (Galiteuthis phyllura), but without collecting the animal, they cannot be entirely sure. 

The squid observed by Aquarium biologists was a paralarva—a planktonic juvenile stage between a hatchling and an adult. Glass squids undergo several remarkable transformations as they grow older. In the paralarva stage, they have distinctive, long, stalked eyes. As adults, their eyes are large and often have a bioluminescent light organ that masks the squid’s silhouette from predators hunting below. 

Learn more about glass squids.