Human beings live on one-third of the earth. Water occupies the other parts. The vampire squid lives in the most unfavourable habitat. It holds an exclusive niche in the ocean. They are one of the unique creatures on earth. The hatching and the Paralarvae are both small vampire squids. The hatching had internal york, outstretched arm like filaments and it lacked mantle head fusion. The Paralarvae have characteristics close to those of adult Para larvae except that the orientation of the fins is oblique.
The first specimen was caught by Chun in 1903 who named it, and since then it has been known as the little black octopus or the vampire squid. It possesses features in similar to those in Octobrachians and decabrachians. The features include the development of larval fins which are resorbed later when the adult fins begin to develop and extended filaments between leg 2 and 3.according to Robson 1932 the filaments are the modified second pair of arms which contain nerves that exchange fibres with the other arms through interbrachial commissure before joining the brain. The vampire squid is the only living member of the vampyomorpha. It is found between latitude 400 N and 400S.Its vertical distribution mostly ranges between 600m and 1500m.
In the Pacific Ocean, the squad is caught between 100m and 1200m and near the bottom of the ocean. According to roper and young 1975, the Para larvae occupy deeper water and those younger than 20mmml occupy below 900mthe vampire squad stays in waters with low salinity and where the temperature is between 2-100 according to Pickford (1952) the vampire squid is limited to upper deep waters of tropical and subtropics seas. The hatching has a single pair of fins. When the second pair is formed, the first pair is resorbed.It contains eight arms. The first and second are strong. They are joined by a web. Its mantle which has a wide aperture joins the broadhead. The mantle muscles are feebly developed and are separated by a coagulated tissue. The core muscles fibres are circular, and they are attached to the gladius dorsally.
The overall structure of the Para larvae was different from that of the hatching. Unlike for the Para larvae the large filament was not embedded in the head. The diameter of the oesophagus increased posteriorly. The gladius of the gorge had the same shape as that for adults but had a narrower centre field. The outer part of the skin has a thin layer of epithelium. The eyes are relatively large. It has bright blue eyes they eyes display a clear space around the lens.it has a binocular vision. The filaments are pale with contrast with the dark mantle. The hatchling had no scholion surrounding it, and it acquires food from the internal york supply.
The ocean’s depths
Scientists at the Monterey bay aquarium research institute (MBARI) discovered that it is an ancient animal which shares characteristics with the squids and octopods. They have eight arms, two long filaments and a cloak like a web but they lack feeding tentacles used by many squids for capturing prey. When disturbed they wrap their arms around their body exposing rows of spiny looking projections and drastically changing their appearance. Ingestion of marine snow aggregates was further confirmed by examination of their stomach contents of animals from museums. Intake of non-living food is unknown for any other cephalopod. They are observed at low depths which have low oxygen level. They exist in minimum oxygen zones because of the adaptions they have. The faint pink brown and relatively translucent appearance reduces their visibility to predators. They have several types of bioluminescent display which deter predators. They are neutrally buoyant and have low metabolic rates. As a result, they reduced the need for muscle for locomotion and saved energy. It thrives in the minimum oxygen zones using its many adaptations .in this zones their food is abundant, and the predators are few. They can feed as passive detritivore sets them apart from other cephalopods
In conclusion, the hatching and the Para larvae contain precise differences. The world holds an enormous diversity of sea creatures which need exploration. The animals carry different morphological characteristics which need to be studied.
