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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 »

Lolplankton

Jul 17 2011 | comment(s)

A comment thread on my last post has gotten me thinking about the summer of 2009. I lived in La Jolla for a couple of months, sorting baby squid out of old preserved plankton tows, and then trying to identify them. I posted extensively about the experience on my other blog, The Cephalopodiatrist, and though I started this blog shortly thereafter, none of that summer material ever made it here.

Celebrate Squid Babies

Jul 15 2011 | comment(s)

My paper on Squid Babies (which started out as a dissertation chapter) just got accepted!

Well, technically it's Accepted with Revisions, which, for the non-academics in the room, means my co-authors and I have to change a few things before it gets published. But still! It's going to get published! This calls for celebration!

So, in honor of Squid Babies, have a gorgeous video by pacificcoast101 on the embryonic development of the California market squid:

Squid School Surprisingly Near Surface!

Jul 13 2011 | comment(s)

Check out this photo, taken a few weeks ago in La Jolla, Southern California. What do you think is most striking about it?

Some people might be surprised by the sheer number of squid in the photo--but rest assured, that's quite normal. This is the California market squid, a gregarious creature that often travels in large shoals. (Or should I say schools? They certainly seem to be swimming in a coordinated manner.)

(Squid) Brains Are Actually Not Computers

Jul 12 2011 | comment(s)

New neurological research, using, of course, the ever-popular giant axon of squid, shows that neurons are pretty darn clever at picking signal out of noise. And what's more, they're sensitive to context:

Neurons are often compared to transistors on a computer, which search for and respond to one specific pattern, but it turns out that neurons are more complex than that. They can search for more than one signal at the same time, and their choice of signal depends on what else is competing for their attention.

Take that, transistors! Neurons are way smarter than you.

Well, at least squid neurons are.

The Trans-Pacific Squid Boomerang

Jul 07 2011 | comment(s)

It's totally a thing! The vast majority of squid caught off the west coast of the Americas, both North and South, is shipped to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to be processed in Asia. Much of it, of course, is consumed there as well, but a non-trivial amount is then shipped east again, to be eaten just a few miles from where it was caught.

Cookiecutter Sharks Pretend To Be Squid

Jul 07 2011 | comment(s)

More bizarre news out of Florida. What do you think this

If you answered, "they both look really disturbing," then I can't disagree. But the more pertinent answer is that both the cookiecutter shark (top) and the squid (bottom) have photophores. As explained in a University of Florida press release: