Comments

  4. Rob C. says

    Flamboyant cuttlefish (which I think this one is) are quite poisonous (a neurotoxin from bacteria, similar to the poison of the blue-ringed octopus and the poisonous cones, I believe). I wonder if the owner of the bare hand knew that…

  5. Freelance says

    I always thought the over the top narrators for National Geographic won the excellence award for a crappy job. I was wrong!

    The narrator does reference ninjutsu techniques. No idea what they are, probably some bizarre wordplay puns.

  6. arekksu says

    sadly i only understood a wee bit of that. things like: “it’s a squid! a southern flower-squid!” and “it’s started to swim!”.

  8. says

    I’ve been trying to pick up as much of the narration as I can. In Japanese, cuttlefish are called “nose squid,” and this one is a “south nose squid.”

    As others have pointed out, the narration is comparing cuttlefish to a ninja, and going through the “ninjutsu” it’s capable of. The first is its ability to blend into the environment and sneak up on prey.

  10. Patches says

    It actually was a “ninja” reference (“ninjutsu”, actually). The little scrolls that pop up on the left describe its “ninja abilities”. The first is “shinobiyori no jutsu” (“stealth ability”), and the second is “kusarigama no jutsu”. A kusarigama is a sickle on a chain that can be thrown and reeled in.

  13. arekksu says

    In light of #6, I’m forced to consider that the “hana” in “hana ika” means flower, and not nose. I’ll have to look that up.

    o, it could be a “southern nose squid”. that certainly would put a different spin on it. can’t be sure, as i don’t think they show the name in kanji at all in that video.

  18. KI says

    At about 1:10 it looks as if the shrimp gives a little bow, is everything in Japan polite?

  20. Xiangyun says

    I heard it as Southern Flower Squid – Minami Hana Ika. All the japanese pages I scanned have the name in Katakana, so no help there. Metesepia Pfefferi?

    Pretty though.

  21. Sclerophanax says

    Cephalopods sometimes make me wonder if there would be a lot of sense of wonder left if we ever found macroscopic aliens on another planet. Sure, they’d be unique, but how much more weirdness can you shovel on a creature until it becomes unfeasible? (Probably a lot more, I admit, I just feel like engaging in a bit of hyperbole.)

  24. clinteas says

    Time to retire,I leave the awake folks with one of the best Blues songs ever…

    The Stones,live

    Nitenite….

  25. Cyberdraco says

    That’s hilarious! Using narration and text as if it was an anime…sounded like the same click they use in Naruto.

  26. rrt says

    Anyone have a direct link to this on YouTube? My iPhone isn’t taking me to the actual site, it’s just playing it.

  27. Brownian says

    Flamboyant cuttlefish (which I think this one is) are quite poisonous (a neurotoxin from bacteria, similar to the poison of the blue-ringed octopus and the poisonous cones, I believe).

    Oh, that’s such a load of bullshit. That rumour’s been circulating in conservative cuttlefish circles ever since it was started by those wanks at Focus on the Egg Clutch and there’s never been a shred of evidence to support it.

  28. clinteas says

    Ok,Ok,I know you want it….

    There it is then,the Stones doing “As tears go by”,first time since 1965…

  29. says

    So, the human is the gigantic monster in this Japanese flick?

    Or, are the cuttlefish just a lot smaller than I first thought?

    What the hey, if I’ve learned anything from our wise IDist friends, it’s to go for the unlikely and for what one wishes/fears. It’s got to be the first one.

    Glen D
    http://tinyurl.com/6mb592

  30. NewEnglandBob says

    Wow, the Stones…that brings back very old memories.

    They are probably the most ugly Caucasians on earth.

  32. Newfie says

    I HAZ A SCRIMP
    I love the colours and hypnotic pigmentation movement.

    I didn’t know they had a tongue like that.

    Squid have two feeding tentacles that shoot out to grab prey, if you watch carefully, you can see the two tentacles when it grabs the shrimp. I don’t know if there is anything like a tongue inside the beak though.

  34. rrt says

    Of course there’s a tongue inside the beak! :)

    One of the defining characteristics of the non-bivalve molluscs (though iirc they have some remnant…?) is the radula, a tonguelike rasping tool covered with lots of tiny teeth…much like a cat’s tongue on steroids. Go to an aquatic pet store sometime and watch snails feeding on algae on the glass. From your “underneath” perspective you’ll get a great view of the radula in action. Should even be able to see the teeth. Cephalopoda and other molliscan carnivores use the same thing to rasp off flesh.

  35. Newfie says

    Of course there’s a tongue inside the beak! :)

    See? Collectively, there is nothing we can’t answer. :P

  38. Mike Wedel says

    Its funny how easy it is to get emotionally attached to these little guys so fast. When I saw the mantis shrimp I got a total adrenaline rush and wanted to yell out “Run!”. If cuttlefish are ninja then mantis shrimp are samurai.

    I wonder if they slowed down the shrimp attack though. In my experience (granted with Sepia Officianalis) its really hard to see the attack it happens so fast.

    Oh, and “Focus on the Egg Clutch”? Hilarious.

  39. Dirk Hardpec says

    According to the narration, “even in slow motion it’s very fast”…This is from DARWIN IS HERE, a Sunday evening 30-minute nature program (on NHK, IIRC) aimed more at kids. They recently had an excellent installment on an Australian bowerbird.

  40. Epinephrine says

    Like a few others, when I saw the mantis I was riveted – we had a mantis in our tank for a while, they’re fascinating/amazing critters.

  41. Sengkelat says

    This video has everything! Cephalopods! Stomatopods! Transparent arthropods!

    I do feel a little bad for the shrimp that got eaten. Nature videos are a little difficult when you like everything non-mammalian.

  44. Gallstones says

    Brownian is the funniest person on the google tubes. I tune in just to read what you write. At least in part.

    How much nutrition would be in one of those shrimp? They don’t look very…….substantial.

  46. Vestrati says

    Haha, man, this makes me miss living in Japan so bad. When I had nothing to do I’d spend hours watching this weird stuff.

  48. JD says

    OMFSM!
    I saw this on TV with my host family last year. They were doing a whole episode on “ninjas of nature,” but this was by far the most exciting part. I remember jumping up and down cheering the flower squid on while my host brothers looked at me like I was insane.

  50. Mr. Sparkle says

    I’m disrespectful to dirt!! Can you see that I am serious?

    Get out of my way, all of you. This is no place for loafers. Join me or die. Can you do any less?

  51. sconnor says

    “I dunno what the hell’s in there, but it’s weird and pissed off, whatever it is.” — John Carpenter’s The Thing

    –S.

  52. Brownian says

    Mr. Sparkle, your commercial was my answering machine message for six months in 1999. Collection agencies calling for previous tenants were wonderfully perplexed.

    Gallstones, you’re making me blush. Thanks.

  53. Dirk Hardpec says

    AVSN, #49 – I’ll do what I can and post it here, but others will probably do it quicker and better. My Japanese ain’t good enough to get all of it.

    At the beginning she says: “A surprising transformation. Is it a sea anemone? A hermit crab? Its true identity is…a squid. This is a hanaika (‘hana’ is either flower or nose [they don’t use Chinese characters here, so I can’t say for sure which it is] and ‘ika’ is squid). This one is called the Southern hanaika.’ She then talks about the short radiating appendages being the arms, and says it is 7 centimeters long. ‘Let’s see if he’ll show us his ninjutsu skills…’ and then describes the two mentioned by Patches in #10 above. Later she expresses wonder that the squid can also swim (not just walk across the sea floor), and finally describes the squid’s camouflage ability that enables it to escape the wrath of its natural enemy (tenteki), the mantis shrimp.

  54. raivo pommer says

    Raivo Pommer
    raimo1@hot.ee

    Viefiel bezahlt EURO im Jahre 2010

    Für 2008 hat Klein laut Geschäftsbericht an Vergütung insgesamt 3,3 Millionen Euro erhalten, davon waren 2,4 Millionen Euro Sonderbonus. Diese Sonderzahlung erfolgte im Zuge des Einstiegs der Deutschen Bank und wurde gezahlt, obwohl die Postbank erstmals seit vielen Jahren einen Verlust machte. Das Minus für 2008 lag unterm Strich bei 821 Millionen Euro.

    Insgesamt erhielt der gesamte Postbank-Vorstand einen Sonderbonus von 11,5 Millionen Euro wegen des Einstiegs der Deutschen Bank. Appel rechtfertigte die Zahlungen als notwendige Halteprämie, da sonst Gefahr bestanden hätte, dass Vorstände angesichts der Gespräche der Mutter Post für einen Verkauf das Geldinstitut verlassen hätten können. Ein normaler Jahresbonus wurde nicht gezahlt.

    Das Gehaltsgefüge der Postbank sei «sehr moderat», sagte Klein dem «Spiegel». Die Bank sei «kein Täter, sondern eher ein Opfer der Finanzkrise». Er verteidigte auch den Sonderbonus. Es sei um einen «ungewöhnlichsten Unternehmensverkaufsprozesse der jüngeren Geschichte gegangen». Unter den Managern der Postbank habe «große Verunsicherung» geherrscht.

  55. Michael says

    In Korea, too, all nature programs are accompanied by dialogue made up for the creatures in order to make the show more entertaining, even though it’s supposed to be a serious nature program! What has become of us?

  57. Toth says

    That is just so fucking cool. I especially love the marquee moving back across its body.