Friday Squid Blogging: The Chinese Squid-Fishing Fleet off the Argentine Coast
The latest article on this topic.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Entries Tagged "squid"
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Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Found in Light Fixture
Probably a college prank.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Camouflage
New research:
Abstract: Coleoid cephalopods have the most elaborate camouflage system in the animal kingdom. This enables them to hide from or deceive both predators and prey. Most studies have focused on benthic species of octopus and cuttlefish, while studies on squid focused mainly on the chromatophore system for communication. Camouflage adaptations to the substrate while moving has been recently described in the semi-pelagic oval squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana). Our current study focuses on the same squid’s complex camouflage to substrate in a stationary, motionless position. We observed disruptive, uniform, and mottled chromatic body patterns, and we identified a threshold of contrast between dark and light chromatic components that simplifies the identification of disruptive chromatic body pattern. We found that arm postural components are related to the squid position in the environment, either sitting directly on the substrate or hovering just few centimeters above the substrate. Several of these context-dependent body patterns have not yet been observed in S. lessoniana species complex or other loliginid squids. The remarkable ability of this squid to display camouflage elements similar to those of benthic octopus and cuttlefish species might have convergently evolved in relation to their native coastal habitat.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Petting a Squid
Video from Reddit shows what could go wrong when you try to pet a—looks like a Humboldt—squid.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Giant Squid Eating a Diamondback Squid
I have no context for this video—it’s from Reddit—but one of the commenters adds some context:
Hey everyone, squid biologist here! Wanted to add some stuff you might find interesting.
With so many people carrying around cameras, we’re getting more videos of giant squid at the surface than in previous decades. We’re also starting to notice a pattern, that around this time of year (peaking in January) we see a bunch of giant squid around Japan. We don’t know why this is happening. Maybe they gather around there to mate or something? who knows! but since so many people have cameras, those one-off monster-story encounters are now caught on video, like this one (which, btw, rips. This squid looks so healthy, it’s awesome).
When we see big (giant or colossal) healthy squid like this, it’s often because a fisher caught something else (either another squid or sometimes an antarctic toothfish). The squid is attracted to whatever was caught and they hop on the hook and go along for the ride when the target species is reeled in. There are a few colossal squid sightings similar to this from the southern ocean (but fewer people are down there, so fewer cameras, fewer videos). On the original instagram video, a bunch of people are like “Put it back! Release him!” etc, but he’s just enjoying dinner (obviously as the squid swims away at the end).
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Vampire Squid Genome
The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) has the largest cephalopod genome ever sequenced: more than 11 billion base pairs. That’s more than twice as large as the biggest squid genomes.
It’s technically not a squid: “The vampire squid is a fascinating twig tenaciously hanging onto the cephalopod family tree. It’s neither a squid nor an octopus (nor a vampire), but rather the last, lone remnant of an ancient lineage whose other members have long since vanished.”
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Flying Neon Squid Found on Israeli Beach
A meter-long flying neon squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) was found dead on an Israeli beach. The species is rare in the Mediterranean.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: New “Squid” Sneaker
I did not know Adidas sold a sneaker called “Squid.”
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Pilot Whales Eat a Lot of Squid
Short-finned pilot wales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) eat at lot of squid:
To figure out a short-finned pilot whale’s caloric intake, Gough says, the team had to combine data from a variety of sources, including movement data from short-lasting tags, daily feeding rates from satellite tags, body measurements collected via aerial drones, and sifting through the stomachs of unfortunate whales that ended up stranded on land.
Once the team pulled all this data together, they estimated that a typical whale will eat between 82 and 202 squid a day. To meet their energy needs, a whale will have to consume an average of 140 squid a day. Annually, that’s about 74,000 squid per whale. For all the whales in the area, that amounts to about 88,000 tons of squid eaten every year.
Research paper.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Game: The Challenge, Season Two
The second season of the Netflix reality competition show Squid Game: The Challenge has dropped. (Too many links to pick a few—search for it.)
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.