Comments

  2. says

    It looks like it’s posing to have a lure made out of it.

    I await the fossil picture of this 200 million years ago.

  8. SLC says

    OT but I would hope that Prof. Myers will comment in his usual trenchant manner about the rumor that Robert F. Kennedy may get a high post in the incoming Obama administration; administrator of the EPA has been prominently mentioned. As Steven Novella and ORAC have pointed out in posts today and yesterday, given the fact that Mr. Kennedy is a total whackjob scientifically speaking, as evidenced by his anti-vaccine attitude, this would send the wrong message to the scientific community. This crackpot shouldn’t be allowed withing 10 miles of any government agency with responsibilities for any scientific issue.

  9. says

    Off the coast of Australia, and not the Bahamas,
    Swims a squid in a pair of striped pajamas.
    This may seem odd to folks like you
    But he thinks your shirt looks funny, too.

  10. AB says

    They say vertical stripes makes you look much slimmer. I never realized its an evolutionary thing as well. You look slimmer. Predators think you don’t have enough meat to be worth chasing. You survive to make little vertical striped babies.

    Its all just a little too neat. Nah, it musta been a (fashion?) designer’s handiwork.

  11. robertm says

    Its funny, ones first reaction is to say, “Oooooo, Ahhhhhh… Pretty colours!” But if you look just a little deeper, one can realize that the ‘faaaabulous stripes you see, are a product of the way in which light interacts with water, making a striped body useful for survival.

    Having knowledge to THAT effect, makes this little creature all the more pleasing to the eye.

    Thanks for sharing PZ

  12. IST says

    AB> If you look closely, they’re horizontal on the organism, not vertical… a form of camouflage perhaps? breaking up the image?

  16. ThinkingApe says

    It’s adorable. Who’s a little Sepioteuthis australis? Are you a little Sepioteuthis australis? Yes, you are, ooza wooza wooza…

  17. Mark says

    snacking on little, glowing shrimp
    hovering killer, bioluminous blimp
    examines you closely, seems to shrink
    then dissapears, in a cloud of ink

  18. Jeanette says

    Aaaaahhhh…

    A thread where everyone’s funny and nobody’s arguing!

    Due to the cuteness, or the soothing blue and black?

    And what evolutionary advantage does cuteness give to a slimy sea critter?

  20. Heather says

    There is another wonderful photo of the squid at http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/NOV04/Southern_Calamari_Squid(Sepioteuthis_australis).html

    The site describes the squid:

    The Southern Calamari Squid (Sepioteuthis australis) is a temperate water species that can be found around the southern coastline of Australia and in the northern waters of New Zealand. It can be found around inshore coastal waters and frequently forms small schools of up to a dozen individuals and they can be found over seagrass meadows and reefs. They are generally seen by divers at night time as this is when they are more active and are attracted to divers diving lights. They feed on fish and crustacean species and are a fast voracious feeder. It lays its eggs on the seafloor or attached to sponges in fleshy white strings of 2-6 eggs per string.