"Mommy, that squid is scaring me!"

I have squids on the brain. You see, there are lots of Humboldt squids up and down the Pacific coast of North America. And in reading about them, I came across the photo above, which I thought had to be fake...but apparently, it’s not! 

Actually, it’s the Promachoteuthis sulcus, a small squid from the south Atlantic Ocean. What’s weird is that this squid seems to have teeth. But what’s weirder is that these are actually its circular, folded lips! The squid’s mouth (which is a beak) can’t be seen.

Okay, so squids have lips. Who knew? But what does a squid eat, anyway?

To find out, I read an article by Molly Wachtel, the world’s third-leading authority on squid stomachs. What does she find in squid stomachs? The usual stuff: Digestive goo, fish, crustaceans, other squids, trematodes, nematodes, and squeamatodes.

Actually, I made that last one up. But doesn’t a squeamatode sound totally great? 

Photo from the Tree of Life.