{"id":247516,"date":"2026-01-16T08:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/247516\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:05:12","slug":"free-diver-notices-strange-squid-thats-actually-one-animal-living-inside-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/247516\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Diver Notices Strange ‘Squid’ That’s Actually One Animal Living Inside Another"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, underwater photographer Henry Cooper<\/a> was free-diving off the coast of Southern California when he encountered a squid-like animal. The creature had what appeared to be a clear body and an orange interior.<\/p>\n

But Cooper, a marine wildlife aficionado, could tell there was something unusual about the \u201csquid.\u201d As he got closer, he realized he was actually looking at two animals: a tuberculate octopus inside of a salp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first glance, it looks like a squid \u2014 but it\u2019s actually an octopus hijacking a hollow, jelly-like salp as a drifting mobile home,\u201d Cooper wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

While everyone\u2019s heard of octopuses, salps are less well-known, even though they\u2019re found all over the world. Salps are filter feeders who have translucent, barrel-like bodies they pump water through to propel themselves around the ocean.<\/p>\n

Cooper was familiar with both salps and octopuses, but had never seen an octopus living inside a salp before. After doing some research, he was shocked to learn that the behavior has only been observed a handful of times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lives in open ocean \u2014 not on reefs where divers usually look \u2014 so most people will never see one,\u201d Cooper wrote. \u201cIn 16 years of Mediterranean research, scientists only documented two.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what was the octopus doing inside the salp? It\u2019s possible that the eight-legged animal was relying on the salp\u2019s highly effective jet propulsion to get around faster. Or perhaps the octopod was looking for an extra layer of defense against predators. But no one knows for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cScientists still can\u2019t fully explain why they do this,\u201d Cooper wrote. \u201cProtection? Camouflage? Free transportation? No one\u2019s sure. The behavior has barely been documented because sightings are so rare.\u201d<\/p>\n

What researchers<\/a> do know is that only adult males and juvenile tuberculate octopuses live inside salps. Full-grown male tuberculates are only about 10 inches long, while the females are over 3 feet long, making them too large to fit inside a salp body.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, future studies will reveal more to us about the special relationship between tuberculate octopuses and salps. Cooper feels lucky to have witnessed such a unique and rare natural phenomenon firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still processing it,\u201d Cooper wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>Woman Finds Two Caged Fluff Balls Thrown Out Like Trash Next To Dumpster\u201cThey were in very bad shape …”<\/a>