Stickerburr Squid

Stickerburr Squid are roughly 5-7 feet in length and live in the deep ocean at 3300 ft nominally known as the twilight zone where the sunlight that reaches through the water is scarce. The squids diet consists of anything that it can catch and shed into their tiny mouths though they prefer smaller prey. They make nightly trips to eat at the surface year round and during breeding season to spawn. While they eat their prey the leftovers stick to the slime that covers them housing tiny and extremely bitter tasting bacteria that both dissuade predators with their taste and the viscous and very sticky slime that they use to stick to their squid hosts interacting in an effective symbiotic relationship. If this is not enough to dissuade something from attacking the squid they are also armed with a couple hundred claws, one for each sucker on their arms and roughly ten on each of their tentacles ends. These claws are tough as well as sharp and do a good job of cutting thick skin just as well as a dive suit so swimming with them is ill advised.
Despite this many do seek them out, whether it is for their stunning beauty during mating season in which the males light up in a kaleidoscope of psychedelic colors or for the predators it attracts. Indeed, despite the claws and the disgusting slime the Crescent Faced Porpoise eats the Stickerburr Squid almost exclusively even having adaptions that make it the ultimate predator for them. Mer will track Stickerburr Squid shoals to know where these porpoises will be due to their production of porpoise ambergris which is an essential ingredient in Ambergris Enameling .

Stickerburr Squid are named for their many spines specifically the clusters on the ends of their two tentacles making the appendages look like the spines seeds of many plants that share the common name. Another common name for the squid are "Glow Roses" for the "thorns" and their vibrent colors when mating.