Never-before-seen vampire squid species discovered in twilight zone of South China Sea

Scientists in China may have identified a newfound species of vampire squid — only the second known species in the world. 

Vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) reach lengths of about 1 foot (0.3 meters). Despite their menacing appearance and name, they are deep-sea scavengers and are unlikely to harm anything aside from small invertebrates and in fact usually gravitate toward feces and dead animals.

The species has been found in temperate and tropical ocean environments in many areas of the world.

The only officially recognized species was described in 1903 following a deep-sea expedition led by German marine biologist Carl Chun. A number of additional species were later described but eventually turned out to be members of the same species. 

These supposed newfound species were juvenile forms of V. infernalis, which had very different physical characteristics — the squid grows a second set of fins closer to its head as it matures and its original fins disappear.

Related: Rare video shows elusive deep-sea squid cradling her gigantic, translucent eggs

"Ten synonymous species that had previously been described showed some morphological differences in their various life stages," study lead author Dajun Qiu, a marine biologist at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, told Live Science.