Big-eyed squid looks more toy than animal

A team of scientists and technicians scanning the rocky ocean floor off Southern California couldn’t contain their excitement when they spotted a bright-purple, googly eyed stubby squid.

They let out a collective “whoa” on video posted on the Exploration Vessel Nautilus’ Facebook page as a camera on a remote-operated vehicle came across the iridescent cephalopod with giant round eyes.

One person suggested it resembled a child’s dropped toy, and another said the creature’s eyes appeared to be painted on.

The creature looks like a cross between a squid and an octopus but is closely related to a cuttlefish, according to the Nautilus Live website.

The find could be more than just bemusing.

“In addition to the googly eyed cuteness, there is one thing biologically interesting about this observation,” said cephalopod expert Michael Vecchione of the Smithsonian Institution. The creature could be a new species, he wrote in an email to the expedition.

It was spotted at nearly 3,000 feet deep, which is unusual, but not unheard of. But, on top of that, the stubby squid didn’t have chromatophores, cells that allow it to change color, as members of its species do, Vecchione said.