Ecology & Zoology

One of the more unusual cephalopods of my acquaintance (and I do not say this lightly) is the ram's horn squid, Spirula spirula. The species is named for its beautifully coiled internal shell, which…

Last March I posted about a little problem with the east cost longfin squid fishery: The nets that fishermen use to catch longfin squid also ensnare butterfish. And butterfish populations are very…

Last March I posted about a little problem with the east cost longfin squid fishery: The nets that fishermen use to catch longfin squid also ensnare butterfish. And butterfish populations are very…

For the last two days we have had our BBC television naturalist Chris Packham presenting us with “Nature’s Weirdest Events”. Here are my three favourites from this session. Exploding toads In…

Squid Drop is an iPhone game* based on the premise that squid are negatively buoyant. Any serious iGamers must ask themselves: is it true? Barring the application of any external forces, would a…

In the East Scotia Ridge deep beneath the Southern Ocean, hydrothermal vents including 'black smokers' reaching temperatures of up to 382 degrees Celsius have created a unique environment that lacks…

The first Circus of the Spineless of 2012 is up at Wild About Ants! Check it out for some very doable new year resolution suggestions. (Like "get to know tiny spiders"--we can all do with a little…

Casual games with squid in them are the new hotness. No, I'm totally serious. There was Halloween Squid, Squibble, Squids, and now, Squid Drop: What a delightful excuse to talk about squid science!…

The Jaffe Laboratory at UC San Diego posted some lovely videos of market squid mating aggregations off La Jolla in Southern California. Check them out here. The first one is just classic: murky green…

Do sperm whales use sonar to stun giant squid? In a word: maybe. I delved quite enthusiastically into the topic last year, and came out tantalized and frustrated by limited evidence. So I was very…