…and this is a 
Friday Cephalopod: Stubby
Category: Cephalopods
Posted on: August 22, 2008 6:57 AM, by PZ Myers
Claire O'Quin sent me this photo with a little story.
While taking a fish ecology and morphology class out at University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs, we came across this little Stubby squid, Rossia pacifica, while collecting one day. He soon became our mascot during the 5 week class. I know the picture isn't that super, but he was a cool little guy and I thought you might like him too.
How can you resist a sweet little story like that?
Life Science
Comments
Posted by: SEF | August 22, 2008 7:11 AM
Sweeeet! But, if you (Claire et al) had him for 5 weeks, on what did you feed him?
Posted by: Claire | August 22, 2008 7:26 AM
There were always mysid shrimp in the tank with him since he was housed with some of our fishy friends and that is what they ate. No one ever actually ever witnessed Stubby eat, but he stayed alive the whole time, so I guess he had to eat something :)
Posted by: Lago | August 22, 2008 7:46 AM
I know it is probably just my own imagination, but cephalopods always seem to be looking back at you, and wondering what you are up to. They almost seem suspicious of you, and contemplating what you plans might be.
Anyone else get that?
Posted by: clinteas | August 22, 2008 7:49 AM
Cutie.....
@ Lago
You should go back on those pills man LOL
Posted by: Moses | August 22, 2008 7:52 AM
Completely unrelated:
I'm at the Wednesday night dinner at FUUN (First Unitarian Universalist -- Nashville) and I'm talking to one of the girls sitting at the end of our table. She goes to St. Cecilia (http://www.stcecilia.edu/). She's a fellow Unitarian (and an atheist Unitarian, like my family).
THEY MAKE HER TAKE COMMUNION EVERY DAY! INCLUDING THE EUCHARIST. NO EXCEPTIONS.
I almost fell out of my chair.
Anyway, I'd been waiting for a cracker thread or something in which to post it. But there was a shooting yesterday at a Knoxville HS where one of our family friend's child goes. She's fine, and was outside when it happened, so I was dealing with all that upset yesterday instead of coming here and condemning the Catholic hypocrisy over "respect our beliefs" when they clearly don't respect the beliefs of others.
Posted by: Moses | August 22, 2008 7:54 AM
Yes. Because they understand that they are predators and prey. Something that many humans don't understand until the shark bites them... Or the mountain lion gets them...
I tell my child all the time, when you're in the woods or ocean, you're not the top predator. There are things that'll eat you. Disney movies to the contrary.
Posted by: True Bob | August 22, 2008 8:06 AM
Awwww, he's adorable!
Posted by: Michelle | August 22, 2008 8:13 AM
awwwr! HUGGABLE mascot! You just wanna tickle it.
Posted by: Spinney | August 22, 2008 8:22 AM
What did he taste like?
Posted by: True Bob | August 22, 2008 8:31 AM
Sorry, Charlie, we don't want cephalopods with good taste...we want cephalopods that taste good!
Posted by: Joel | August 22, 2008 8:51 AM
I was wondering if you would mind taking part in this poll. It would brighten an otherwise dreary day.
Do you believe God has intervened to revive patients that doctors ruled were hopeless cases?
http://www.gazetteonline.com/
Posted by: LisaJ | August 22, 2008 8:54 AM
Awwww, the cutest real life mascot ever!
Posted by: Mike B | August 22, 2008 8:55 AM
I wonder if he would make a good pet he's super cute.
I also did the poll btw. God appears to be winning there and we can't have that.
Posted by: Mustafa Mond, FCD | August 22, 2008 9:07 AM
Cthulhu is opening today in select theaters. I'm not expecting too much because the cast includes Tori Spelling and several people I've never heard of.
Posted by: GirBoBytons | August 22, 2008 9:10 AM
Aww thats adorable! I wanna kepp him! #11-Didnt we already do that poll or is it a different with the same badly worded question?
Posted by: KillerChihuahua | August 22, 2008 9:13 AM
I did the poll.
That is the cutest little squid! what was his eventual fate (or do I want to know?)
Posted by: GirBoBytons | August 22, 2008 9:21 AM
^^-----cannot type this morning lol.
Posted by: mdowe | August 22, 2008 9:50 AM
There isn't much in the picture to gauge the squid's size. I'm guessing it is on the small side?
Posted by: Claire | August 22, 2008 9:57 AM
#16-He was left in the loving hands of the incoming invertebrate class.
#18-He was small, he fit in the palm of your hand, which just makes him even cuter!!
And, another fact about Stubby, he is actually more closely related to cuttlefish.
Posted by: Randy | August 22, 2008 10:06 AM
He's as cute as a tiny, little Kraken. Did you put paper boats in the tank for him to crush?
Posted by: madder | August 22, 2008 10:10 AM
@Mustafa Mond #14
Ah, yes. Finally, Ms. Spelling gets her big break as the title character.
Posted by: Rey Fox | August 22, 2008 10:29 AM
"Like, totally Cthulhu ftaghn!"
Posted by: roddg1 | August 22, 2008 10:29 AM
"And, another fact about Stubby, he is actually more closely related to cuttlefish."
Cuttlefish? Needs to be a rhyme in there somewhere.
Posted by: Bacopa | August 22, 2008 11:29 AM
Alas, squid do not do well in aquaria. They bang into the glass and need near perfect water conditions. Small cephalopods live fast and die young anyway.
M main interest in squids is in eating them. There's a local squid that makes great calamari. Japanese restaurants serve some kind of slab-like squid meat that must have come from a pretty big squid. Weirdest squid I ever ate was at a Filipino diner next to where I used to work. I ordered the Squid platter to go and walked back to the breakroom. The dish had whole little fried squids in it about two inches long. I ate thtem and they were delicious. My co-workers left the room.
Posted by: Nick | August 22, 2008 11:38 AM
That's almost exactly what happened during a marine ecology class of my own at the Bamfield marine station, a ways north on Vancouver Island. We found the little fella in some seafloor samples we were taking, and managed to rescue him on the sorting table. He was a lab favourite for the rest of the semester, and actually did pretty well in his tank. Fortunately, the labs at Bamfield are supplied with the very same seawater that the little dude would have been swimming around in anyway.
Posted by: Kitty | August 22, 2008 12:35 PM
:D Soooo cuuuuute!
Posted by: Bert Chadick | August 22, 2008 12:41 PM
Aw. I wonder if Washington has an official State Cephalopod? Write your legislator.
Posted by: Sticklematt | August 22, 2008 1:38 PM
I wake up today, and there's our class's mascot sitting on Pharyngula. Awesome!
If he had been free-swimming instead of a benthic species, it would have been a lot harder to take care of him properly, but he seemed pretty content to sit on the bottom and glare hatefully at us, tentacles tucked neatly under his body.
Posted by: Kelly W | August 22, 2008 5:00 PM
I was in the FHL Inverts class...we kept him for a few weeks in our lab. Once we finished learning about mollusks, I helped release him off the docks. Hopefully he's doing well!
We caught a few tiny Rossia while night-lighting off the docks, but they didn't survive long in the lab.
Posted by: Paul A. | August 22, 2008 5:16 PM
He reminds me of the way the Martians in HG Wells' War of the Worlds are sometime portrayed.
Posted by: Claire | August 22, 2008 6:20 PM
Kelly W, I'm so glad to hear that he was not only useful for your class, but was also returned to the ocean alive and well!!!