Comments

  1. RickD says

    I’m with Mike. “OK, squid, we’ve got you surrounded. Come out with your hands up!”

  2. Rocky says

    Forgive me, this is off topic. Has anyone seen where R. Dawkins “Root of all evil” is for sale anywhere in the US yet. I’ve watched it on web clips, but would very much like to own and show to others.

  3. Rheinhard says

    Rocky – don’t know about official type sales (I doubt that it will come to these shores in any legit form anytime soon, because of the fundam riots that would ensue), but I am currently working on creating a Regionless NTSC video format DVD image which I will make available via BitTorrent when completed. The DVD image currently obtainable is of the original Brit release which is of course region-2 coded and PAL video, meaning most Americans can’t watch it on their TVs.

  4. apikoros says

    The instant question (vid. zebras) is “Is it white with black stripes or black with white bars?”

    The serious question is more general. “Everyone know” that “the cephalopod” is highly intelligent but only lives a year or two. Every time I hear that (or any “everyone knows” statement) I wonder… Are there species of cephalopods that live indefinitely or at least for many years? I also wonder, less seriously, if there are any really stupid squid out there :-)

  5. says

    Pyjama? Ain’t never heard of that spelling.

    [checks dictionary.com]

    Well, it’s in there. Weird.

    py·ja·ma Audio pronunciation of “Pyjama” ( P ) Pronunciation Key (p-jäm, -jm)
    n. Chiefly British

    Variant of pajama.

    Pyjama

    n : a pair of loose trousers tied by a drawstring around the waist; worn by men and women in some Asian countries

  6. wamba says

    It looks as if he has two cute little arms, both raised above his head. Armed robbery in progress?

    Yup, those gill fringes add the special touch.

    He’s clearly a cuttlefish.

    You spelled cuddlefish incorrectly. In this instance.

  7. says

    Happy Cephalopod Friday!

    Finally got started working on my PNG footage from last summer. Here’s a squid I found swimming around off the reef on a night dive in Madang.

    Squid Movie

    Not as cute as the Striped Pyjama Squid but still cool I think.

    Clinton

  8. Rocky says

    Very cool squid feeding video!
    Rheinhard, thanks for the response. I found BitTorrent, and will watch for that DVD. Thanks again!

  9. yorktank says

    Maybe it’s because I’m so “spiritual,” but I get a distinct “from the depths I cry out to you, O Lord” vibe from that photo.

  10. says

    Well, I shot some pictures for my new old-style-erotica site yesterday and did make sure to incorporate something for both my host service (laughingsquid.net & .org) and for our dear host here that might entertain each one of them.

    It’s work safe:

    http://pics.livejournal.com/mollyblack/pic/0001ebtg/

    (and it takes you to my lj so it’s not exactly like I’m marketing anything other than the unbearable cuteness of cephalopods).

  11. Gentlewoman says

    Damn, that is a FINE squid! I have never seen a photo of that species before. We live in a wonderful world, don’t we? I sure hope we get to keep it…

    Cheers,

    GW

  12. says

    At first it looked like a zebra trying to give birth to an orangutan.

    I like the squid feeding movie. Notice how he loses his color in his attack run?

  13. RCP says

    Notice how he loses his color in his attack run?
    Very cool. I was also impressed by how fast the squid caught it’s food (1 frame in the video) and how accurate it was, especially since the placement of the eyes would seem to give the squid fairly poor binocular vision.

  14. SEF says

    Is it flolloped with its eyes shut? The fringed bit (or hands!) is very strange.

    If there were a Cruella-de-Vil of the merfolk, she’d have a lot more opportunities for creativity (and villainy) than the terrestrial one.

  15. says

    I remember a type of candy that looks a lot like that cephy. And for some reason the image of Cthulhu as an ice-cream vendor came to mind.

  16. Ed Darrell says

    PZ, is it true that a squid’s esophagus goes through it’s brain? Sorta gives a whole new meaning to Mom’s old warning, “Eat slowly and chew your food well,” if so.

  17. Erin says

    it’s not a cuttlefish (correct spelling by the way,look it up) and it’s highly poisonous. So have killing yourselves trying take one home with you.

  18. John B says

    Saw this just last night on Nature on Vermont PBS. The show was called ‘Encountering Sea Monsters’, I believe. The main story was about a guy trying to film Humboldt Squid (apparently nasty), but he went around learning about cephalopods generally, and saw a pair of these when looking for blue-ringed octopus.

    Apparently, the humboldt can fly, too… which is troubling:

    “A few species of squid escape from predators by blasting themselves out of the water with a burst from the funnel and traveling through the air for distances up to 200 feet. Squid have small fins that stabilize flight and allow them to glide above the water’s surface. Neon flying squid, (Ommastrephes bartrami) which often swim in schools, have been observed flying in groups of more than one hundred. The Humboldt squid, sometimes known as the jumbo squid, are also capable of flight.”

    http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Invertebrates/Facts/cephalopods/locomotion.cfm