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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 »

What Was That Cephalopod I Just Ate?

Feb 14 2011 | comment(s)

Have you ever found yourself wondering about the species identification of the molluscan muscle in your mouth? The answer can be as slippery as the animal.

Accurate seafood labeling is a constant problem, largely due to the length of the supply chain. Customers have to trust what the restaurant or supermarket tells them, and the buyers for those businesses in turn have to trust what their suppliers say. This game of fish telephone can go around the world, as globalization shuttles seafood between distant markets.

Among seafood, cephalopod labeling is some of the least informative. Often there's no attempt to get any more specific than "squid" or "octopus", and even those terms seem dubious when you realize how often people mix them up.

Humans Empathize with Boneless Inkers

Feb 13 2011 | comment(s)

This is so heartwarming. A few days ago a large cephalopod washed up on the beach in Florida, and

Beachgoers rushed to the squid's aid. It was spitting out ink and seemed weak, [Lifeguard] Gorman said. "It's used to being in places that are dark and black," he said. "To be in the sunshine on the beach was not a good spot."

Er, not to mention that between wet and dry, cephalopods have a definite preference. Here's a video of people collecting the creature into a cooler and bringing it out to deeper water:

Squid Egg Chemical Related To Human Semen?

Feb 12 2011 | comment(s)

Covered in the popular media with the engaging headline Scientists discover how to make squid go completely berserk is a recent study about squid pheromones.

Squid species of a particular family, Loliginidae, are famous for their spawning aggregations. They gather together in certain areas at certain times of the year, and the females lay eggs in elongate capsules attached to the seafloor. A cluster of capsules is often referred to as an "egg mop" and a collection of mops as an "egg bed." Stumbling upon on egg bed while diving can be a dramatic sight.

But Could The Squid Hear Themselves On TV?

Feb 09 2011 | comment(s)

Well, it's been six months and the news cycle has come around again to the same squiddy topics: a new TV show about giant squid, and the question of whether squid can hear.

The giant squid documentary, which was supposed to come out in 2010, is a wee bit behind schedule. The new news is that the Japanese broadcaster NHK is partnering with Al-Jazeera Children's Channel in this venture. That's a cool collaboration! Nothing brings the whole world together like a fascination with giant squid.

In 2009, NHK said it was working on a series called Giant Squid: Last

The Headline We've All Been Waiting For

Feb 06 2011 | comment(s)

Giant Squid Kill Fishermen, courtesy of Weekly World News, "The World's Only Reliable News."

Marine biologists rushed to the scene hoping to catch at least one of the squid. Dr. Luis Santiago of the Universidad Autónoma Baja California Sur explained, “We captured one of the attackers. She is female and we believe most of the pack to be female because of their size. We also believe they coordinated the attack by using pigment cells to communicate, which is very typical in a situation like this. I’m afraid we may be seeing more of these attacks in the coming years, and possibly forever."

Humboldt Squid on the East Coast!

Feb 04 2011 | comment(s)

The Squids 4 Kids outreach program I helped to start up is going strong! We've been doing a number of local dissections, both in and out of classrooms, and shipping squid around the country. They made the news in Florida:

With cameras flashing and video rolling Wednesday, six Canterbury Upper School seniors dissected a 4-foot-long Humboldt squid.

and North Carolina: