Glass squids live in the boundless waters of the twilight zone. With no protective shell and nowhere to hide, they have to get creative.
Glass squids use an invisibility cloak to stay safe in these dark waters. Like other cephalopods, they are covered in tiny pigment sacs called chromatophores. When their chromatophores are closed, their skin is basically see-through.
When their cover is blown, they expand their chromatophores to darken their appearance. Or they might simply ink and jet away!
Glass squids also have special light organs that mask the shadow of their more opaque body parts. This helps them maintain their cloak of invisibility and hide from both predators and prey.
But the future of all midwater animals is in jeopardy. The deep seafloor contains many precious minerals critical to modern technologies—like the batteries in your phone. Mining these metals will release plumes of wastewater that will cloud the ocean’s twilight zone.
