Moonlighting: Reflective protein causes squid to shimmer

As the Hawaiian bobtail squid glides through the ocean on moonlit nights, when darkness alone wouldn’t cloak it, reflective materials in its tissues render the animal invisible. Biologists have long known that squid and other cephalopods such as octopuses manipulate light in this way.

LIGHT TRICKS. The Hawaiian bobtail squid camouflages itself by controlling reflective proteins in its tissues.