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)

In this Saturday, April 8, 2017 photo, a keeper walks camels to the Al Marmoom Camel Racetrack, in al-Lisaili about 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Camel racing is a big-money sport and fast thoroughbreds can fetch well over a million dollars. As rising temperatures across Gulf Arab countries signal the end of the winter camel racing season, Dubai is wrapping up its races with the annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival that has drawn thousands of camels from across the oil-rich Gulf. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

Bus hostesses adjusts their hair before photos outside the Great Hall of the People the eve of the opening session of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A female hippopotamus named “Mali”, which means Jasmine, eats fruits arranged to look like a cake during her 50th birthday celebration at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand September 23, 2016. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hold up posters at a “Black Men For Bernie” rally to gain support for third party candidates and protest the DNC during the 2016 Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Photo)

Fish weighing over 80 kilogram is cooked in a hotpot during a food festival in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, October 17, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

“The Net thrower”. The fisherman are conducting activities on Situgunung Lake. Photo location: Situgunung lake, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Dody Kusuma/National Geographic Photo Contest)

This close-up image – of a Holi Festival celebrant in Vrindivan, India, coated in neon-colored powder – was submitted to National Geographic’s Your Shot in the last week of March. On April 1 we published it on our Daily News site, along with seven other bright scenes captured during the Hindu spring Festival of Colors. (Photo by Tinto Alencherry/National Geographic)