Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Vampire Squid

Vampyroteuthis infernalis

CephalopodaOxygen minimum zones of temperate and tropical oceans, roughly 600 to 1,200 metres

Field profile

The vampire squid is the only living member of its order, sitting between octopuses and squids in cephalopod evolution. It is a small, gelatinous, red-brown animal with a cloak of webbing between its eight arms and two retractile filaments.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-06-08

Vampire Squid

The vampire squid eats falling debris, not prey

Despite its name, Vampyroteuthis does not hunt. It trails long filaments to collect marine snow, the drifting mix of dead plankton, faecal pellets and mucus that sinks from the sunlit ocean above.

Read with evidence →

Vampire Squid | Daily Animal Facts