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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 »

Tanning With Squid Ink

Apr 01 2011 | comment(s)

Manchester Confidental postedd a rather creative April Fool's Day article called Squid ink is the new Garra fish. Garra is the genus of fish, sometimes called doctor fish, that will nibble all the dead skin off your toes if you go to a fancy spa. That's real.

This is not:

The squids, which are sourced from off the west coast of Indonesia, have been found to produce a rare ink that stains even the fairest of skin a beautiful olive colour when applied from precisely 23cm away.

But it's pretty funny.

"Jaws" For Giant Squid

Mar 27 2011 | comment(s)

I just stumbled across a list of favorite ocean flicks, posted at The Film Pilgrim. The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo make a necessary appearance, as do epic disaster shows like Titanic and The Perfect Storm.

Then there's Jaws, which (arguably) prejudiced a generation or more against great white sharks forever. Not a bright day for interspecies understanding.

And then there's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, to which the Film Pilgrim says: "I don't think there’s ever been a movie which greater depicts the ferocity of the giant squid." May I just say: the totally inaccurate, fictional, unsubstantiated ferocity!

Freshwater Squid . . .

Mar 27 2011 | comment(s)

. . . don't exist.

But because it's finger squid season in Texas, I've been reading up on the closest approximation to a freshwater squid: the Atlantic brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis. It's a pretty great name for a pretty great squid. The latin name just rolls off the tongue: lolly-gunk-you-lah. And "brief"? Like these? Oh wait, those are squid briefs, not brief squids . . .

I think the brief squid was named for its diminutive size.

Squid Have Mirror Eyeballs!

Mar 24 2011 | comment(s)

It's one of the most persistent problems in camouflage: how do you hide your eyes?

Skin is not that difficult to disguise. You can change its color, cover it up, match it to your environment. But eyes are tricky. You have to be able to see out of them. And unfortunately, predators are extremely good at looking for eyeballs.

I'm not a predator, but I am a marine biologist, which is kind of the same thing. I've done my time searching through plankton soup for squid larvae--and I can tell you the best way to search is to look for the eyes. They're just so recognizable!

I Like Whales Even Though They Eat Squid

Mar 22 2011 | comment(s)

I'll confess it. Even though they're the divas of the ocean, the quintessential charismatic megafauna, even though they overshadow all the other weird and wonderful marine life, I still like whales. And our oceans need them, just the way our land needs wolves and tigers and pandas and elephants.

So I designed a super-nerdy t-shirt:

I submitted it to a Threadless challenge for the Oceanic Preservation Society. If you like it, go vote it up!

Musical Migration

Mar 18 2011 | comment(s)

This is the best song I have heard all year. (Thanks to i'm a chordata! for the shout out.) I might even go so far as to say it's the best song I will hear all year. What could possibly be more awesome than this beautiful, bluesy explanation of why animals in the ocean undertake vertical migrations?