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April 18, 2020 12:02 am

Deep Sea Squid Communicate By Glowing Like E-Readers

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Deep in the Pacific Ocean, six-foot-long Humboldt squid are known for being aggressive, cannibalistic and, according to new research, good communicators. Known as "red devils," the squid can rapidly change the color of their skin, making different patterns to communicate, something other squid species are known to do. But Humboldt squid live in almost total darkness more than 1,000 feet below the surface, so their patterns aren't very visible. Instead, according to a new study, they create backlighting for the patterns by making their bodies glow, like the screen of an e-reader. Ben Burford, a graduate student at Stanford University, and his colleagues studied deep-water footage taken by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's remotely operated vehicles off the California coast. They found the squid make around 30 different patterns of lines, stripes and patches. The patterns appear dark, but researchers believe they're illuminated by the squid's bioluminescent skin. Some of the patterns are only used around other squid, suggesting they're used for communication. The squid also appear to reorder the patterns, almost like words in a sentence.

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