In order to display the striped pyjama squid, our cephalopod aquarists figured out how to rear them from eggs to hatchlings and finally to adults able to lay viable eggs. They were the first to close the pyjama squid lifecycle!
Striped pyjama squid slumber party! You can visit these cephalopod hatchlings in our Tentacles special exhibition.
Thank you to staffer Ellen Umeda for the photo!
We’re geeking out over the newest addition to our Tentacles exhibition: the striped pyjama squid!
These shy cephalopods have never been displayed in the United States before. To make it happen, our aquarists figured out how to rear these little ready-for-bedtime-squid from eggs to hatchlings and finally to adults able to lay viable eggs.
Luckily the Tentacles team has a lot ofexperience raising cephalopods. According to aquarist Bret Grasse, they were able to unlock the mysteries of the pyjama squid lifecycle with “the right combination of genders and some positive vibes. We also provided a comfortable habitat and good egg-laying medium for them to deposit eggs on.”
Look closely at the pyjama squid’s stripes and you’ll see that they’re actually made up of tiny dots. These are chromatophores, color organs made of nerves and muscles and tiny sacs of pigment that change an animal’s coloring when they expand or contract. Our aquarists have seen pyjama squid flashing their stripes when threatened or when they’re trying to repel fellow pyjama squid from going after a tasty shrimp during feeding time. “They try to look menacing by making dark stripes on their mantle, but this only makes them look cuter in my opinion,” notes Bret.
Native to waters around Australia, pyjama squid can grow to about two inches long. They like to burrow in the sand with only their eyes peeking out to spot potential predators and prey. Nestled in the substrate with their jammie stripes, they enjoy an all-day bedtime and emerge at night to hunt.
You can spot the striped pyjama squid in our Tentacles exhibition! Look for these banded cuties across the way from the nautilus exhibit.
A Year-End Shell-ebration! May 2016—We became the first aquarium in North America to display striped pyjama squid! Now, thanks to our intrepid cephalopod team, our home-grown squidlings are being shipped to other Association of Zoos and Aquariums institutions to spread the pyjama party around the country.
The striped pyjama squid may seem shy and sleepy, but beware to all passing shrimp! These nocturnal hunters bury themselves in the sand with only their eyes peeking out, waiting for something tasty to stroll by.
One-week-old pyjama squid, reporting for duty!
Btw, no cephalopods were harmed in the making of this photo! The little squid is still in the water, in a petri dish, with the dime underneath the dish.
The striped pyjama squid may seem shy and sleepy, but beware to all passing shrimp! These nocturnal hunters bury themselves in the sand with only their eyes peeking out, waiting for something tasty to stroll by.
Enhance!
The stripes on a pyjama squid are created by concentrated channels of chromatophores: tiny sacs of pigment that stretch and crumple to create patterns used for camouflage, communication—and even built-in jammies!
Read more about our latest addition to our “Tentacles” exhibit, or find out more about how chromatophores work.
Now on Exhibit: Two Rare Deep-Sea Cephalopods!
We just added two striking deep-sea animals to our Tentacles special exhibition: the vampire squid and the Japetella octopus. The vampire squid has never been exhibited at any public aquarium before. Both were collected with the help of our sister organization, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is an ancient animal that lives in deep tropical and temperate waters—like the Monterey submarine canyon. Despite its sinister appearance—and its name, which means “vampire squid from hell”—this animal is a scavenger. It lives on “marine snow” that rains down from above: a mixture of poop, dead animal parts and mucus.
The Japetella octopus (Japetella sp.) is a beautiful animal that lives in the midwater realm, hundreds of feet below the surface but well above the sea floor. It has chromatophores that enable it to go from see-through with spots to almost a solid orange color. MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles have observed them on video both in Monterey Bay and—even more often—on expeditions to the Gulf of California.
Like many cephalopods, these animals can be fragile and short-lived, so we encourage you to visit soon and check them out!
They’re in the exhibit where we recently housed two flapjack octopus, which we’ve now moved behind the scenes.
View a video about the vampire squid and the dangers it faces in the wild
Learn more about the (pretty gross) diet of the vampire squid
Photos and videos courtesy MBARI.
We’re not squidding, Cephalopod Week starts today! We’re collaborating with
@sciencefriday, and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to bring you a whole week of the best of all things tentacled. We’re suckers for these amazing critters!
We’re thrilled to be the first public aquarium in the world to culture and raise these delightful drifters. While these animals are incredibly fragile and difficult to see, they’re abundant and can be found throughout the ocean!
Siphonophores are colonies of tiny animals called “zooids”, and they play an important role in the oceanic food webs.
Thank you to our colleagues at @mbari-blog for the common siphonophore footage! Check out their website to learn more about these magnificent mysteries!