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)

A girl broadcasts at live streaming talent agency Three Minute TV in Beijing, China on April 12, 2017. Three Minute TV also arranges cosmetic surgery at partner hospitals for its anchors, arranges small bank loans for the surgery, photographs and markets the anchors and helps them find acting opportunities Deng said. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A “Rhino Beetle” (Oryctes nasicornis) is seen in Edremit, Van, Turkiye on August 2, 2024. Named “Rhino Beetle” due to the horn on its head, this beetle is commonly found in moist areas across Europe and Turkiye. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

This aerial photograph shows beach-goers gathering on a beach alongside the Atlantic Ocean in Carcans, south-western France on July 22, 2025. (Photo by Christophe Archambault/AFP Photo)

Onokatsu in action against Ichiyamamoto during the twelfth bout of the Grand Sumo Tournament at Royal Albert Hall in London on October 15, 2025. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters)

Kelsea Ballerini performs at the 59th Annual Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., November 19, 2025. (Photo by Seth Herald/Reuters)

A Police officer reacts to protestors outside the Piet Retief Magistrates court where the five accused in the shooting of the Coka brothers on the Pampoenkraal farm appeared, Mhkondo, Mpumalanga, South Africa on April 19, 2021. (Photo by Jacques Nelles)

A group of women take photos of a giant donut installation outside the Maddox Gallery in Mayfair, London on Thursday June 24, 2021, to celebrate a new exhibition entitled Villainy, a body of work by an anonymous street artist from New York who operates under the alias, “Jerkface”. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Wire Press Association)