Friday Cephalopod: breeding swarm! : Pharyngula

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Friday Cephalopod: breeding swarm!

Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: February 22, 2008 6:37 AM, by PZ Myers

Loligo opalescens

Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide ^{(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll)}, by Mark Norman.

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Comments

Posted by: astromcnaught | February 22, 2008 6:57 AM

Reminds me of that marvelous Jacques Cousteau documentary that I saw as a lad. I was wide eyed with amazement at the swarms of squid mating, laying eggs and then dying en-masse. Wonder if it's the same species?

Posted by: Mr.Mom | February 22, 2008 8:14 AM

The series Planet Earth has some great footage of squids mating...And of great Whites biting seals in half.

Posted by: Cephaloprude | February 22, 2008 8:22 AM

How about a NSFW warning before inflicting squid porn on us. Oh, and moving the pic below the fold, so we can choose not to view it, would be nice.

Posted by: InnerNinja | February 22, 2008 8:30 AM

Those are some sexy cephalopods.

Yet none approximate the skill, cunning, and stealth of the Ninja Octopus. Have you not heard of this species before? Do not be afraid my child. There is still time for you to learn more... and perhaps you can befriend the Ninja Octopus. It is, after all, a sentient being.

Posted by: GodlessHeathen | February 22, 2008 8:49 AM

Cephaloporn?

Posted by: gg | February 22, 2008 9:19 AM

For best effect, play one of these songs in the background while looking at this picture...

Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | February 22, 2008 9:28 AM

For squid or starfish, perch or porgy,
There's nothing like an ocean orgy
Where, unlike silly human rules,
Of course we want more sex in schools
Monogamy's against the norms
For those who have their sex in swarms!
Indeed, were there some fishy prude--
Who found such conduct simply rude,
And lectured others on their morals,
Preached of Sodom in the corals--
This Jerry Falwell of the waves
Would be the one who misbehaves!
The squid who do their moral duty
Join the swarm and shake their booty!
It's good, and not just glamorous,
When squid are polyamorous,
For in the moral code of shellfish,
Rule number one is "Don't be selfish".

Posted by: The Flying Trilobite | February 22, 2008 10:02 AM

It always makes me happy that you cite where the photos come from, PZ.

Just had to point that out. Not enough people do it with their illustrations and photos.
Thankyuvermuch.

Posted by: Frank Anderson | February 22, 2008 10:14 AM

For the record, it's now Doryteuthis opalescens.

Damn squid taxonomists...

#10

Posted by: Good Mom | February 22, 2008 10:36 AM

Listen, what a bunch of squid do in the privacy of their ocean is their business. I'm the last one who would judge them for their immoral behavior. But children can access this site. Children! Do we really want our children learning that group sex is natural?!!!

What's next, a children's book about gay penguins? It's bad enough that I have to protect my kids from art that glorifies self-mutilation (The Giving Tree), cannibalism (Where the Sidewalk Ends), and the occult (Harry Potter). But now I must protect them from science as well! Give a mom a break!!

#11

Posted by: Bureaucratus Minimis | February 22, 2008 11:32 AM

Thanks for the cool pic (PZ), and for all the great snarkage (most everyone else, particularly Cuttlefish).

Hey, I've got a squid question: They swim with tentacles facing forward, right? How do they locomote?

#12

Posted by: Falyne | February 22, 2008 11:53 AM

Hmmmm....

Given the "Loligo" part of the name, should I make a LOLsquid joke, or one about squid Loli?

Choices....

#13

Posted by: SteveM | February 22, 2008 12:01 PM

They swim with tentacles facing forward, right? How do they locomote?

I believe squid "swim" with tentacles trailing (so in the picture, I think they are moving to the left), and do so by jet propulsion.

#14

Posted by: Paguroidea | February 22, 2008 1:48 PM

There's an interesting website I found with more information about these organisms.

http://academic.evergreen.edu/t/thuesene/animalia/mollusca/cephalopoda/loligo/opalescens.html

"Life History: This species can live up to 3 years, but the average life span is 1 to 1 1/2 years, ending after spawning. Spawning mostly occurs between December and August along the Pacific coast. Mature squid will migrate to sheltered waters, over mud or sand bottom, in water depths of 3 to 40 m, where they meet to form pre spawning aggregations. During courtship, male L. opalescens use color changes and movement to attract females, and apon embracing the females, red flashes to ward off other males. As the male is grasping the female with his arms, he uses his specialized fourth arm (hectocotylus) to insert a spermatophore in to the females body cavity. The spermatophore is then transferred to her seminal receptacle, where it is held until the eggs are ready."

#15

Posted by: Ichthyic | February 22, 2008 3:51 PM

@#1:

Wonder if it's the same species?

yes it is.

anyone who wants to see this "hot" action, can easily do so every year off of the coast of California.

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/Lopal.php

#16

Posted by: Ichthyic | February 22, 2008 3:53 PM

For the record, it's now Doryteuthis opalescens.

thanks frank.

It still is gonna take a while for the rest of the world to catch up.

#17

Posted by: Cthulhu | February 22, 2008 4:06 PM

We are Cephlapods. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us...

#18

Posted by: Anon | February 22, 2008 4:19 PM

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2505577284414058342

#19

Posted by: Frank Anderson | February 22, 2008 5:17 PM

For the record, it's now Doryteuthis opalescens.

thanks frank.

It still is gonna take a while for the rest of the world to catch up.

That's understandable. I don't like being one of those annoying systematists that swaps names around, but hey, that's the phylogeny! I know of some people who will refer to it as Loligo opalescens until their dying day no matter what I say, and that's cool. But if they say it in front of me, I reserve the right to hassle them!

On second thought, maybe I don't actually mind being an annoying systematist.... ;-)

#20

Posted by: Matt H | February 22, 2008 7:22 PM

Has anyone done research on 'handedness' in cephalapods? I wonder if the tentacles which are more readily moved into their visual field are used more than those which are more remote....

#21

Posted by: Acronym Jim | February 22, 2008 11:54 PM

"Hey, I've got a squid question: They swim with tentacles facing forward, right? How do they locomote?"

In the case of cuttlefish, (Full disclousre: I'm not an expert on any of the cephalopods) locomotion appears to be (when just hangin' out) fin generated. Those would be the lateral fins that are situated towards posterior to the tentacles.

#22

Posted by: Ichthyic | February 23, 2008 12:45 AM

On second thought, maybe I don't actually mind being an annoying systematist.... ;-)

it's a dangerous job, but someone's gotta do it.

;)

They swim with tentacles facing forward, right? How do they locomote?"

actually they can locomote in any direction with ease.

backwards, for maximum speed they will pull water into their mantle cavity, and forcibly expel it through their ventrally located siphon. All cephalapods are capable of this kind of locomotion. they can also angle the siphon to a great extent, to achieve a bit of a push in most directions.

squid can also use their paired rear fins to locomote in any direction, by passing sinusoidal waves through them.

not as fast as their "jet" propulsion, but allows for near instantaneous changes of direction.

I'm sure a google for vids of squids swimming will quickly show you both methods of locomotion.

heh, or perhaps just a search through the archives on Pharyngula will turn one up.

#23

Posted by: chuckgoecke | February 24, 2008 11:20 PM

Is this what they mean when they say there were probed by a noodley appendage?

#24

Posted by: K T Cat | February 25, 2008 11:32 AM

I threw you a link, but my Haloscan trackback didn't work. Oh well. Thanks for another cephalapod post!