You're Not Hallucinating. That's Just Squid Skin. | Deep Look

Octopuses and cuttlefish are masters of underwater camouflage, blending in seamlessly against a rock or coral. But squid have to hide in the open ocean, mimicking the subtle interplay of light, water, and waves. How do they do it? (And it is NOT OCTOPI)

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

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--- How do squid change color?

For an animal with such a humble name, market squid have a spectacularly hypnotic appearance. Streaks and waves of color flicker and radiate across their skin. Other creatures may posses the ability to change color, but squid and their relatives are without equal when it comes to controlling their appearance and new research may illuminate how they do it.

To control the color of their skin, cephalopods use tiny organs in their skin called chromatophores. Each tiny chromatophore is basically a sac filled with pigment. Minute muscles tug on the sac, spreading it wide and exposing the colored pigment to any light hitting the skin. When the muscles relax, the colored areas shrink back into tiny spots.

--- Why do squid change color?

Octopuses, cuttlefish and squid belong to a class of animals referred to as cephalopods. These animals, widely regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates, use their color change abilities for both camouflage and communication. Their ability to hide is critical to their survival since, with the exception of the nautiluses, these squishy and often delicious animals live without the protection of protective external shells.

But squid often live in the open ocean. How do you blend in when there's nothing -- except water -- to blend into? They do it by changing the way light bounces off their their skin -- actually adjust how iridescent their skin is using light reflecting cells called iridophores. They can mimic the way sunlight filters down from the surface. Hide in plain sight.

Iridophores make structural color, which means they reflect certain wavelengths of light because of their shape. Most familiar instances of structural color in nature (peacock feathers, mother of pearl) are constant–they may shimmer when you change your viewing angle, but they don't shift from pink to blue.

--- Read the article for this video on KQED Science:

--- More great DEEP LOOK episodes:

What Gives the Morpho Butterfly Its Magnificent Blue?

Nature's Mood Rings: How Chameleons Really Change Color

Pygmy Seahorses: Masters of Camouflage

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Cuttlefish: Tentacles In Disguise - It’s Okay to Be Smart

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Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook #squid #octopus

[lineikatabs]

"You're Not Hallucinating." darn it, my dealer ripped me off :(

[fluffquiin]

What do you call a group of Squids?





A Squad.

[trumpatier]

When she mentioned how we can breathe automatically or by thinking about it, I became conscious of my breathing and had to manually control it -_- I can't be the only one this happened to?

[MrLinuxify]

This channel is mesmerizing. Definitely recommend this to some friends

[booksandbabushkas]

This is beautiful, but I feel bad for the squid who got snipped :(

[crankysmurf]

I'm surprised the US military hasn't dumped money into R&D for camouflage based on octopus.

[Roulettesplay]

This video made me go look up the etymology of "Octopuses". TIL: The original pluralization was Octopodes, then was incorrectly changed to Octopi because of the belief the word was Latin in origin, when it actually is Greek, and now Octopuses has become so widely used in texts it is the accepted replacement for Octopodes!

[MartchZ]

Wow! They seem so alien compared to animals I'm used to seeing. Oceans are deep. Much to discover.

[ApemanMonkey]

I once heard that even blind squid will have their skin adapt its color... so I don't know why they had to snip one of the brain nerves.

[jaschabull]

2:05: Great, they just made Squid Two-Face.

[blblblllahahaaa]

0:19

*trypophobia has entered the chat*

[W.E.N.D.I.G.O]

Is it sad that I've never seen a squid in real life? I've also never seen a cuttlefish before

[BeeLy]

Why did I find this in a Splatoon playlist?

[derpysaw]

My Freind: mentions squid
My other freind: please don’t-
Me: W O O M Y

[ChromaLuke]

Am I the only one who got goosebumps watching the squids changing colors and getting dots and such? It's like I suddenly got tripophobia.

[frootythepebble]

I think cuddle fish are so cute!❤️❤️❤️ idk why I just do I'm weird😋

[johannavarner]

Awesome work. (And impeccable lighting on those squid!)

[rgm]

You are kid now, you are squid Wait a second this is not splatoon

[blessedbeauty]

- They are such intelligent creatures. I *love* them. Especially Octopuses 🐙 ❤

[nonsense-nonsense]

OK SO THAT'S A SQUID NO WAIT THAT'S A KID OH NO SQUID NO NOW IT'S A KID