An international team of scientists have for the first time discovered two 160-million-year-old giant cephalopod fossils with intact ink sacs that contain dried pigment similar to that of modern cuttlefish.

For 300 million years, they were the ultimate survivors.

Once thought to be only the realm of the blue-ringed octopus, researchers have now shown that all octopuses and cuttlefish, and some squid are venomous.

New evidence that chemical contaminants are finding their way into the deep-sea food web has been found in deep-sea squids and octopods, including the strange-looking “vampire squid".