A person believed to be possessed with the Gede spirit holds sculls during a ceremony honoring the Haitian Vodou spirit of Baron Samedi and Gede at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, November 1, 2021. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

Hindu devotees offer prayers during “Chhat Puja” festival on the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati on November 10, 2021. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

A policewoman uses a tissue during a protest to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Mexico City, Mexico on November 25, 2021. (Photo by Raquel Cunha/Reuters)

A man in Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in the Russian Far East on November 23, 2021. Located in Tuimaada Valley on the Lena River, Yakutsk is the largest city in the permafrost zone. On 23 November 2021, the daytime temperature ranged between –35 and –31 degrees Celsius in Yakutsk. On the night between 22 and 23 November, the temperature went down to –37 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Vadim Skryabin/TASS)

A boat lies on a beach of the Isola Capo Rizzuto marine reserve in Calabria, Italy on November 14, 2021, where many wrecks of vessels used by migrants are abandoned. (Photo by Alessandro Serrano/AGF/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A pedestrian wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, walks in front of a mural, at a metro station in Athens, Greece, Monday, November 15, 2021. Authorities say the rate of death related to COVID-19 in Greece has reached its highest level in six months as roughly one-third of the country's population remains unvaccinated. (Photo by Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photo)

Dogs are seen at the 2021 Pawlidays celebration at Sofitel Hotel Los Angeles on December 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

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)