For his senior thesis in the Illustration department at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Jim Tierney re-designed the dust jackets of four classic Jules Verne novels, including a particularly squid-tastic cover for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. If these books were for sale I would totally buy them. With money!
Back in the end of December when I did my Xmas Roundup, I left out one important gift—Ryn’s nautilus necklace!
Ryn loves her nautilus!
You might recognize this necklace if you are familiar with the work of Sheryl Westleigh (aka Noadi) or if you saw my 2009 Holiday Shopping guide. While I was composing that post, Ryn saw the photo of the nautilus pendant and let out an excited SQUEEE! I knew then and there, that I couldn’t let anyone else buy it.
Brown Nautilus by Noadi
Speaking of Noadi’s fabulous cephalopod creations, check out this video showcasing her new line of steampunk-themed jewelery!
February has been a hectic and exhausting month, and it turns out I needed a little break from my usual frenetic schedule of daily blog posts. (Plus I’ve become slightly addicted to the Winter Olympics.) Of course, during the down time I’ve ended up with a large backlog of material—not the least of which are the final two entries of the Ten Sensational Squids countdown. So, while I work on getting caught up, please enjoy the following video presentation by David Gallo, which reminds us all why cephalopods are so freakin’ awesome.
Pacific Bigfin Squid, photo by Richard E. Young (from tolweb.org)
Rare and poorly understood, Bigfin Squid were first formally defined in the 1990’s (although a single damaged specimen discovered in 1907 —M. talismani—has been subsequently assigned to the genus). Species of Magnapinna are characterized by small heads, large eyes, and very large fins that extend well beyond the posterior tip of the mantle. Almost all specimens described to date have been paralarvae or juveniles, and the adult forms are officially unknown. However, on multiple occasions in recent years, ROV submersibles have captured footage of a previously unknown large squid that is suspected to be the adult form of Magnapinna. Also known as the Long-arm Squid, these mysterious cephalopods are unlike anything previously observed.
photo by NOAA (from Wikipedia)
Its arms and tentacles (which are of equal length) are held perpendicular to the body and then angle downward (sometimes at 90°) at strange “elbows.” The relative length of arms/tentacles to the body is greater than in any other known squid (15-20 times the mantle length), and the total length of the animal is estimated to be as much as 8 meters (~26 feet). The Long-arm Squid has been observed in the Gulf of Mexico, the Indian Ocean, waters off Ghana and Brazil, and, as seen here, Hawaii.
T. danae is the sole species of the genus Taningia, and it is one of the largest known species of squid. It can attain a mantle length of 1.7 meters (5.58 ft) and weigh up to 61.4 kg (over 135 lb). (The specimen pictured above has ML of just over 1 meter.)
Apart from its impressive size, Taningia has many distinctive characteristics. The common name “Octopus Squid” (which also applies to the other species in the family Octopoteuthidae) reflects that adults only have eight arms, having lost their two tentacles during development. Two of these arms are tipped with large photophores. These light-emitting organs have muscular lids, giving the squid the ability to produce intense flashes of light when it attacks its prey. T. danae also has exceptionally large, muscular fins, which are fused on the dorsal midline and are nearly the length of the mantle.
In 2005, live footage (including the video below) of the the Dana Octopus Squid was shot by Japanese researchers at depths of 240-940 meters off the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific.
Additionally, here is another video that shows a squid that looks very much like Taningia danae that has attached itself to a light on a deep sea oil rig.
Also known as the Sparkling Enope Squid, W. scintillans is a small squid (~3″ long) found only in Japanese waters, where it is fished commercially. It is known for spectacular displays of bioluminescence and has 2-4 large black photophores on the tips of certain arms, 5 on each eyeball, and a galaxy of tiny photophores covering its body. The Firefly Squid is also the only cephalopod known to have color vision, possessing three visual pigments and a double-layered retina.
The video below is a clip from a Japanese talk show, and it features three different types of glowy sea life: Firefly Squid, bioluminescent plankton, and bioluminescent comb jelly. The squid part goes by pretty fast, but you get a good look at a school of W. scintillans all lit up!
The Humboldt Squid (aka the Jumbo Squid, aka the Jumbo Flying Squid, aka Diablo Rojo, aka the Red Devil) was the star of the minor, and poorly researched, media frenzy this past Summer that I like to call Squidvasion! 2009. Although there’s no excuse for lazy science reporting, I can understand the impulse to occasionally over-sensationalize an animal as cool as Dosidicus gigas. They can grow up to 7 ft long and posses tentacles with razor-sharp suckers for crying out loud! They also have the ability to instantly change their color from white to a deep blood-red, and, as the name “Jumbo Flying Squid” suggests, they have been known to eject themselves out of the water to avoid predators. Humboldts are the most common species of large squid, at least of those that we are able to easily observe. They travel in large shoals of up to 1,200 individuals and come to the surface at night to feed. Their vicious and voracious reputation has probably been a wee bit exaggerated, but I would still think twice before going swimming with a thousand man-sized predatory squid! Of course it would be another story completely if I had a suit of anti-squid armor!
This video by KQED, starts off a little on the cheesy side (and features a talking head that insists on calling them “fish”), but that soon gives way to a very informative and level-headed look at the biology of D. gigas and how its recent expansion of range may be connected with global climate change. Of course the best part is all the excellent footage of Jumbo Squids in action!
National Geographic has posted this cool new video of an Amphioctopus marginatus, aka the Coconut or Veined Octopus, using a coconut shell as protective camouflage. I’m not exactly sure why it’s news, since I’m pretty sure this behavior has been well-documented for a while now, but this video is all kinds of awesome! (See my previous posts about the Coconut Octopus, here and here.)
Last night’s new episode of The Venture Bros. featured a mystic brawl between The Order of the Triad and great Cthulhu himself.
The Venture Bros. is one of my favorite shows currently on TV. It is part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim Sunday night line up, and you can more watch clips and (for a limited time, I think) the entire episode, “The Better Man,” over at AdultSwim.com.
