A team aboard a research vessel exploring the ocean floor off the California coast have captured on video their encounter with a pink "googly-eyed" stubby squid.

The species, whose scientific name is Rossia pacifica, resembles a cross between an octopus and squid but is actually more closely related to cuttlefish.

"They look like googly eyes. It looks so fake!" one onlooker on board the E/V Nautilus says in the video.

"Seriously those eyes freak me out," another person says.

The squid was discovered at a depth of 900 metres on August 12.