Chinese scientists have identified a new species of vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis), only the second known vampire squid species in the world.

Researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences collected a specimen similar to Vampyroteuthis infernalis (V. infernalis) in September 2016 at depths between 800 and 1,000 meters in the South China Sea.

The research team conducted a morphological and phylogenetic analysis between the specimen and V. infernalis. The results indicated that the morphology presents notable differences in tail shape, lower beak, photophores position. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial COI and nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences revealed well-supported long distances and clear separation of the specimen from V. infernalis.

Qiu Dajun, study lead author, introduced that V. infernalis was initially described by German marine biologist Carl Chun in 1903, and it typically lives between 600 and 900 meters in the temperate and tropical Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, where oxygen concentrations are low.

The new species was named Vampyroteuthis pseudoinfernalis Qiu, Liu & Huang, sp. nov. The study was published online in the journal Zoological Systematics.