With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

Performers of Everland Amusement Park present the part of Christmas Fantasy in downtown of Myundong in Seoul, South Korea on December 3, 2019. (Photo by Seokyong Lee/Penta Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A person dressed up as Spider-Man sits next to the cabs as taxi drivers hold a protest against taxi-hailing apps such as Uber, Cabify and Didi at Angel de la Independencia monument, in Mexico City, Mexico, October 12, 2020. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

A view shows “The Farnese Bridge”, a participatory monumental cardboard installation by French artist Olivier Grossetete, over the Tiber river in front of the Palazzo Farnese, the seat of the French embassy in Italy, during its inauguration in Rome on July 13, 2021. A French Embassy project, the Farnese bridge is the realization of the dream of Cardinal Farnese, who wished to build a bridge over the Tiber to connect Palazzo Farnese to the gardens of the Villa Farnesina. A project, at the time, entrusted to Michelangelo, but that remained unfinished. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte/AFP Photo)

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto performs during the Gala Exhibition at the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan on March 26, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

Mamediara attends the Met Gala Party for Jean Paul Gaultier x Shayne Oliver Group held at Sapphire in Manhattan on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post)

Michael Olivant, a Times reader, saw a chance to contribute when a Dalmatian pelican landed on his wife’s head at Lake Kerkini in northern Greece in the first decade of February 2025. (Photo by Michael Olivant/The Times)

Local residents receive food from federal authorities in Xalacahuantla, Mexico, on Thursday, October 16, 2025. Hundreds of communities in central and eastern Mexico were cut off by deadly landslides and flooding caused by torrential rains. (Photo by Alfredo Estrella/AFP Photo)