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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 »

Chitin is Pretty Cool

Mar 02 2011 | comment(s)

Eek, sorry, I kinda disappeared for a few days. There was really good powder, what can I say?

I can at least draw a tenuous connection between driving up to the mountains and today's blog topic! If you've ever tried to change altitude with a cold, you know how much trouble your sinuses can cause. These pockets of air in our heads have to equalize with the air pressure outside our heads, or else: PAIN.

Most of us just stick it out or pop some pseudoephedrine, but some people who suffer from recurring sinus infections require surgery to fix the condition. Unfortunately, the cure can be worse than the disease, in cases where surgery scars cause more sinus blockage and infections.

Mass Squid Death in Tasmania

Feb 25 2011 | comment(s)

A curious tale! Not least because the writer has no compunctions about referring to squid as fish. While the group "fish" is by no means taxonomically rigorous, and comprises creatures as diverse as hagfish, sharks, and coealacanths, the one thing all fish have in common is that they're vertebrates. Squid are squarely in the invertebrate camp, and therefore excluded from the fish club.

Linguistic quibbles aside, this really is strange:

EXPERTS have no answers on what has caused the death of thousands of squid in the River Derwent this week. Dead

A Revolutionary New Squid Jig!

Feb 24 2011 | comment(s)

That was a joke. I don't think it's actually revolutionary. But Shimano sure does! "Shimano says its Egi System will not only catch you more squid but will make your squid fishing even more enjoyable."

Here is their Egi squid-catching System in visual format:

See all those colorful jigs? (Jigs are lures made specifically to catch squid.) Do you want to know what is so awesome about them?

The Latest From Down South

Feb 18 2011 | comment(s)

I've been tracking the Illex argentinus fishery for a while now--remember 2009 was the worst year ever, and while 2010 was better it was still far from a complete recovery. How's 2011 shaping up?

In Argentina:

Kraken: Fact Or Fiction? Take Your Pick!

Feb 17 2011 | comment(s)

This a double whammy, a two-for-the-price-of-one, a joint review (for some value of the word review) of two books with the same title: Kraken.

China Miéville's Kraken is a New Weird novel that tracks the adventures of London Natural History Museum curator Billy Harrow. The inexplicable theft of his prize Architeuthis specimen forces him into an other-London of magical knacks, squid cultists, gangsters, and impending Armageddon.

The Squid Hunter Of The Smithsonian

Feb 15 2011 | comment(s)

The Smithsonian has posted cool videos of Clyde Roper talking about his passion for the giant squid, Architeuthis. Two of the videos are short excerpts of an interview with Roper, and one is a ten-minute documentary with some very neat footage from Roper's squid-hunting expedition.