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)

Members of the Apollo Rainbow Dancers stretch out in special A train late on May 4, 1985, in New York. The legendary Apollo Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary in an official reopening after a 15 month refurbishing with a celebrity studded evening. (Photo by Ray Stubblebine/AP Photo)

A light installation called “Run Beyond” by Angelo Bonello is seen on the launch day of the Light Festival at Battersea Power station on January 13, 2022 in London, England. Running from January 13 to February 27, the curated collection of installations includes work by six artists, with two displays making their UK exhibition debut. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

A woman refreshes at a fountain in Casa de Campo during a heatwave in Madrid, Spain on June 15, 2022. (Photo by Isabel Infantes/Reuters)

A young girl from the Makonde ethnic group wearing earth makeup on her facen, a beauty symbol, carries a baby on her back as she poses for pictures in the community of Marupa, a relocation center for internally displaced families in the Chiure district, on February 23, 2021. Thousands of families from different districts of the Cabo Delgado province who have been displaced have been located by the government in different areas of the province. (Photo by Alfredo Zuniga/AFP Photo)

Shoppers and commuters in Manchester wearing face masks on February 28, 2020, including plague doctor masks due to the Coronavirus crisis in the UK. (Photo by Mario Forshow/Cavendish Press)

Natasha Cloud #0 and Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury gather their team before the game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on June 04, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

A police officer gives instructions to migrants rushing to board a train that would take them towards Serbia, at the railway station in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Wednesday, August 20, 2015. Macedonian police stepped up the security at the border with Greece apparently trying to stem recent surge of migrants who are coming from Greece. (Photo by Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo)