October 12, 2017—A cockatoo squid recently captured the attention of the crew of the scientific research ship E/V Nautilus. Found in deep waters, it’s not just its habitat that makes a cockatoo squid tough to spot. Most of the animal’s body is transparent. You can make out a few internal organs, including a rod-shaped digestive gland that stays vertical as the squid moves around, minimizing its visibility from above or below. The creature’s most obvious feature is the one for which it’s named: the arms, arranged in a plume-like crest on its head. Like many cephalopods, cockatoo squid can change colors. In this case, that can include spots that seem to appear out of nowhere on its mantle.

October 12, 2017—A cockatoo squid recently captured the attention of the crew of the scientific research ship E/V Nautilus. Found in deep waters, it’s not just its habitat that makes a cockatoo squid tough to spot. Most of the animal’s body is transparent. You can make out a few internal organs, including a rod-shaped digestive gland that stays vertical as the squid moves around, minimizing its visibility from above or below. The creature’s most obvious feature is the one for which it’s named: the arms, arranged in a plume-like crest on its head. Like many cephalopods, cockatoo squid can change colors. In this case, that can include spots that seem to appear out of nowhere on its mantle.