This baby Hawaiian bobtail squid is only 1.5 cm across. It has a bioluminescent light organ filled with glowing bacteria that it uses to camouflage itself from as it hunts. The squid controls how much light is released using an ink sac, visible here as a dot in the squid's mantle.
Mark R Smith, Macroscopic Solutions
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Gabriel Luna, Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
For two decades, Wellcome Images has presented awards to the best scientific and medical images that enter its collection each year. This year’s collection is stunning, with portraits, illustrations, and microphotography vying with 3D models and scans for the title of overall winner. Individual awards for these winners and the grand prize winner will be announced on March 15.
These 22 images were selected by nine science communicator experts, but you can have a voice too. Vote for your favorite before August 31, and you’ll have a chance to win a print of one of these incredible images for yourself.
