Googly-Eyed Squid Peers Directly Into Your Soul

“It’s like some little kid dropped their toy”, one of the researchers commented.

The bright purple color and enormous eyes makes the sea creature look nearly fake. The video of the Stubby Squid (Rossia pacifica) was taken at a depth of 900 meters (2,950 feet) below the ocean’s surface. Because they bury themselves in the sediment, it is often hard to see the squid except for those eyes.

The cephalopods generally live in and below the lower intertidal region “around the perimeter of the North Pacific from Japan to Southern California”. Regardless of their expectations, what they encountered is an nearly unearthly creature: a googly-eyed squid.

This purple, “googly-eyed” cephalopod was spotted by a research vessel along the ocean floor.

We’re just so happy to know this Stubby squid exists.

The scientific name of the googly-eyed squid is Rossia Pacifica, commonly known as the stubby squid, and it is a small species, reaching at most 11 centimeters. They posted video of the encounter to YouTube on Friday.

The creature is a stubby squid, a type of bobtail squid that is actually really closely related to cuttlefish.

E/V Nautilus is a research vessel dedicated to mapping the seafloor and exploring deep-water marine habitats.

These squids possess characteristics of both cuttlefish and octopus. E/V Nautilus notes stubby squid poke their eyes out so they can easily spot their prey, including our hearts, obviously.