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Vampire Squid And The Evolution Of Cephalopod Sex

Everyone loves vampire squid, right? Their monstrous name belies their gentle nature as graceful...

Learning Science From Fiction: A Review Of Ryan Lockwood’s “Below”

In last month’s review of Preparing the Ghost, I mentioned that you can actually learn facts...

Usurped By Legend: A Review Of Matthew Gavin Frank’s ‘Preparing The Ghost’

When you read something in a book, do you believe it? You might say, “Of course not if it’s...

Squid Lady Parts

This Bobtail squid was imaged by the Deep Discover ROV in Atlantis Canyon, is less than one foot...

Danna Staaf

Cephalopods have been rocking my world since I was in grade school. I pursued them through a BA in marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by a PhD dissertation at... Read More »

Protect The Colossal Squid!

Nov 02 2011 | comment(s)

Wait, what? Don't we know, like, almost nothing about colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltonii)? How could we have any idea whether they need protection or not?

On the other hand, the fact that we've seen so few individuals rather suggests that there aren't that many of them to begin with. As with any scarce resource, perhaps caution is the better part of valor . . . or something like that. I might be getting my aphorisms mixed up.

Brazilian Giant Squid Makes Me Seasick

Nov 01 2011 | comment(s)

Just a couple of weeks ago, some Brazilian fishermen found two giant squid! Here's a video of one:

They were longlining, so I'm not exactly sure how they got these squid--usually when fishermen catch giant squid, it's because they come up in trawl nets.

What Do You Prefer To Call Squid?

Oct 31 2011 | comment(s)

Okay, this is just bizarre. There's this "anti-aging consumer website," right? And they've just instituted an annual supplement award, called the "You Can't Be Serious" Award.

The award, presented by antiagingsupplementnews.org, goes to the natural health supplement that combines the most improbable or intriguing ingredients in a product with a promising future.

The first award went to this supplement called Marine D3, which contains extracts of brown seaweed and squid. Yep!

Really, Don't Trust Seafood Labels

Oct 28 2011 | comment(s)

I've been hearing about issues with seafood labeling (and mislabeling) for years. As it turns out, if you don't have a PCR machine in your kitchen, there's no way to know if the red snapper you picked up at the store is actually tilapia. It's disheartening--but very important--to learn that the issue isn't going away.

Squid By The Tide Of Humber

Oct 26 2011 | comment(s)

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find. I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood . . .