Elusive 'octopus squid' with world's largest biological lights attacks camera in striking new video

One of the world's most elusive squid species put on a blinding bioluminescent display as it attacked an underwater camera in the deep sea, exceptionally rare new footage reveals.

Researchers from the Minderoo Foundation and the University of Western Australia (UWA) Deep Sea Research Center captured the rare encounter, which occurred around 3,281 feet (1,000 meters) below the Pacific Ocean's surface, using a free-falling baited camera dropped into the sea near the Samoan Passage — an area of deep water flow north of Samoa. 

The team was on a research cruise documenting the diversity of the deepest part of the ocean — the hadal zone — when they spotted the rare creature.

The animal in the video is a Dana octopus squid (Taningia danae), a member of the family Octopoteuthidae that feeds on pelagic fish, crustaceans and other squid species. 

Squid species within the Octopoteuthidae family have eight arms which is why they are called octopus squid. As juveniles they have two long, trailing tentacles in addition to their arms, but these are lost as the squid matures.

Members of this species are known for their colossal size. The longest individual ever reported was a 7.5-foot-long (2.3 m) female, according to a 2003 study. The individual in the new video is around 2.5 feet (75 centimeters) long, according to a statement from UWA.

In the footage, the squid suddenly appears from the darkness and darts toward the camera, engulfing it with its arms before making a quick getaway. Moments before latching onto the camera, the squid shows off a pair of bright, light-emitting organs, known as photophores, at the tips of two of its arms.