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Firefly Squid

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  Animal class: Mollusks (Invertebrates (with no backbone or spine) have an exoskeleton (an outer shell to help protect their soft bodies and have a sharp tongue called a “radula” that helps them take food off of hard surfaces, they breathe with tiny gills called ctenidia, they lay eggs, some have a “foot” (the underside of a snail) to help them move, and their sizes range from the Acmella nana (a type of snail) at 0.02 in (0.6 mm) to the Colossal Squid at 45 ft (14 m))(Examples: Octopus, squid, snails, and clams. There are over 80,000 different species)
• Diet: Carnivore (They only eat meat)– Crustaceans, small fishes, crabs, and shrimp
• Lifespan: About one year
• Predators: Whales, sharks, fish, squid, and crabs
• Size: 3 in (7.5 cm) tall
• Species: There is only one species of this kind, but there are about 300 different kinds of squid
• Status: Least Concern
• Weight: 0.31 oz (9 g)
• Where do they live?: Lives off the coast of Japan, the western Pacific Ocean.
• They have bioluminescence (makes their light), and this helps them talk to each other, confuse their predators to think they are bigger than they are, or attract prey. They can also camouflage into their surroundings.
• Some females will lay eggs fertilized by the male in the water, then the egg attaches to a hard surface, and some females will lay eggs and fertilize them themselves and attach them to a hard surface, then take their next form.
• Lights can be in unison or an alternate in a pattern.
• You can find them at a depth of 600-1200 ft (183-366 m) during the day, and they come to the surface to hunt and lay their eggs at night.
• They can be eaten by humans either cooked or raw (uncooked) and in the springtime.