Did you know vampire squid are actually vegetarians?

Terrifying though it sure as shooting come out , the scarlet - bodied , turbid - eyed Vampyroteuthis infernalis ( aka “ vampire squid from hellhole ” ) is n’t the least bit scarey from a dietetical standpoint .

Via Deep Sea News ’ R.R. Helm :

The decisive clew to the vampire ’s kinder nature come in the material body of long , stringy tentacle . For X scientist puzzled over the whodunit of these strange outgrowth . Are they for mating ? Defense ? No one knew , until scientist observed the squid doing something altogether surprising . It turns out , vampire calamari use these tentacle like sportfishing line , but they ’re not catch go quarry , they ’re catching ‘ snow ’ . Vampire squid scoop up bury sea gunk , live as maritime snow , with their thin yellow tentacle , and then suck it off these process ( like work your fingers ) . This gunk include bits of algae , dead creature , poo and bacteria from the ocean above .