Squids, Red Sea, Egypt

Squids are marine cephalopods and one of the most highly developed invertebrates. They maneuver their way around the ocean tail first, primarily through jet propulsion. This also aids in pushing water through their gills. Squids have three hearts, and their skin is covered in chromatophores that reflect light and contain pigment that allows them to change color and skin patterns.

The ability to manipulate their appearance serves multiple purposes for squids, including camouflaging themselves when threatened, distracting prey, and communicating with other squids, especially during mating.

Though they have many predators, including humans, squids are excellent hunters. Their two tentacles have hooks and suckers that are used to capture prey, including some that is significantly larger than them. Once their meal is caught, squids use their arms to keep it under control and their beaks to slice it into bite-sized morsels. While most squids have only eight arms, the Big Fin species has ten. We photographed these squids at Small Giftun in the Red Sea near Hurghada, Egypt. Read more in our post, Scuba Diving the Red Sea in Egypt by Liveaboard.