Wednesday Cephalopod: In flagrante delicto
Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: October 8, 2008 1:24 PM, by PZ Myers
Octopus vulgaris
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Search this blog
Profile
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)
I reserve the right to publicly post, with full identifying information about the source, any email sent to me that contains threats of violence.
Random Quote
(Complete listing)The applications of science are inevitable and unavoidable for all countries and peoples today. But something more than its application is necessary. It is the scientific approach, the adverturous and yet critical temper of science, the search for the truth and new knowledge, the refusal to accept anything without testing and trial, the capacity to change previous conclusions in the face of new evidence, the reliance on observed fact and not on preconceived theory, the hard discipline of the mind all this is necessary, not merely for the application of science but for life itself and the solution of its many problems.
[Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister of India]
Recent Posts
- I wish this were a Poe
- Radio reminder
- Not my cup of tea
- Zombies defend Christmas!
- Nice shirt
- Faith hurts
- There probably isn't
- Enduring damage
- Casey Luskin writes a revealing letter
- Come on down
A Taste of Pharyngula
(Complete listing)Chelifores, chelicerae, and invertebrate evolution
Ancient rules for Bilaterian development
Recent Comments
- mayhempix on Not my cup of tea
- christmas flowers on Zombies defend Christmas!
- bigjohn756 on I wish this were a Poe
- SC on Faith hurts
- David Marjanović, OM on Not my cup of tea
- Random Chimp on I wish this were a Poe
- Zeno on I wish this were a Poe
- clinteas on Not my cup of tea
- David Marjanović, OM on Not my cup of tea
- Spook on I wish this were a Poe
Archives
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
Blogroll
(Complete listing)Other Information
Subscribe via Email
Stay abreast of your favorite bloggers' latest and greatest via e-mail, via a daily digest.
« GFP wins Nobel Prize! | Main | Wreckers »
Octopus vulgaris
Find more posts in: 
Life Science
Comments
Posted by: Brownian, OM | October 8, 2008 2:10 PM
Is sex happening here?
Posted by: Fred Mounts | October 8, 2008 2:13 PM
That's the most action I've seen in a very long time. Thank goodness for porn on teh Internets!
Posted by: Katrina | October 8, 2008 2:14 PM
Brownian,
I'm glad you don't see it, either. I figured it was the third (or maybe fourth) Margarita impairing my vision.
Posted by: mr-zero | October 8, 2008 2:15 PM
Is the picture caption "Octopus vulgaris" the type of octopus or a comment on the picture content?
Z
Posted by: Glen Davidson | October 8, 2008 2:15 PM
Spines just get in the way.
At least that's what I expect they'd think.
But they don't have fire, which is what happens when your gelatinous (sorta) form is restricted to water. Makes technological development a bitch.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Fred Mounts | October 8, 2008 2:18 PM
I have to admit that I don't really see much going on either, but it's been a veeeeeeeeeery long drought, so I trick myself into thinking that something naughty is happening. :o)
Or should that be :o(
Posted by: WRMartin | October 8, 2008 2:29 PM
The audio didn't come through but I think it went something like this:
"Hey honey what's your name? What's your whole name? And can I have your phone number so I can call you up sometime?"
Posted by: Saint Pudalia | October 8, 2008 2:39 PM
Oh, man! You got me all keyed up thinking today was Friday!
Posted by: The Petey | October 8, 2008 2:44 PM
"yeah baby, take my hectocotylus. You take it so well."
Posted by: Nollidge | October 8, 2008 2:49 PM
OMG NSFW!
Posted by: Brownian, OM | October 8, 2008 2:57 PM
Pharyngula: Your Online Source for the Hottest Squid Sex and Octoporn!
Join now to meet cephalopods in your area for discreet and intimate encounters!
Posted by: Katrina | October 8, 2008 3:05 PM
I give up. Right now, it's like one of those 3-D puzzles. I'll check back again in the morning.
G'nite, all
Posted by: Sven DIMilo | October 8, 2008 3:14 PM
The hot, hot details have been covered before. NSFW if you work with a bunch of really knowledgable but hyperprudish bionerds.
Posted by: Miss Kitt | October 8, 2008 3:16 PM
"Ah, she is coy!"
This is a beautiful and artistic image of cephalopod relations at their best. Congrats on finding a sensitive treatment of this often-exploited subject.
Octopus pron tends to be that way, though, not as "hard-core" as cuttlefish and squid...
(rimshot!)
Posted by: Miss Kitt | October 8, 2008 3:21 PM
"Ah, she is coy!"
What a lovely, sensitive depiction of cephalopod reproduction! Truly artistic, not like those voyeuristic shots from New Zealand...
Of course, octopus joining is usually depicted this way, since they lack the hard core of squid and cuttlefish.
Posted by: Nerdette | October 8, 2008 3:29 PM
But it's not the First of May!
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdetails/First%20of%20May
Posted by: Noadi | October 8, 2008 3:29 PM
It's 8/8/08! Happy International Cephalopod Awareness Day everyone!
Posted by: Noadi | October 8, 2008 3:38 PM
Oops, sorry October is the 10th month, oct of course means 8 so I screwed up.
Posted by: Noadi | October 8, 2008 3:40 PM
Oops, sorry October is the 10th month, oct of course means 8 so I screwed up.
This posting error stuff is driving me crazy.
Posted by: SEF | October 8, 2008 3:53 PM
It's only the tenth month if you buy into the idea that January is the first month. If you go back to having March at the start of the year, October is the eighth month - as per its name.
And yes Party A (the large octopus on top of the rock) is definitely being vulgar by inserting its tab A into slot B of Party B (the smaller octopus at the base of the rock). You can just see her "half-lidded" eye next to the intruding tentacle.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM | October 8, 2008 4:00 PM
Thats a HUGE tentacle that occi has there. Bet he's not at all ashamed to get undressed in the locker room. He's the Johnny Holmes of the cephalopod world.
Posted by: Marion Delgado | October 8, 2008 4:00 PM
A quick drive-by posting, unrelated to cephalopods
PZ:
I want a movement to christen that process whereby the creationists "find" dinosaur and human footprints in the same strata, and similar processes, PALINTOLOGY.
MD
(a rural Alaskan)
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM | October 8, 2008 4:02 PM
Thats a HUGE tentacle that occi has there. Bet he's not at all ashamed to get undressed in the locker room. He's the Johnny Holmes of the cephalopod world.
Posted by: John | October 8, 2008 4:03 PM
How to do u get so much in posting so many in a day. As a professor and researcher, how can u do this?
Posted by: Marion Delgado | October 8, 2008 4:05 PM
A quick drive-by posting, unrelated to cephalopods
PZ:
I want a movement to christen that process whereby the creationists "find" dinosaur and human footprints in the same strata, and similar processes, PALINTOLOGY.
MD
(a rural Alaskan)
Posted by: John | October 8, 2008 4:06 PM
How to do u get so much in posting so many in a day. As a professor and researcher, how can u do this?
Posted by: WRMartin | October 8, 2008 4:08 PM
OT
Now I understand. Religion is a code word for
batshitchickenshit crazy.:http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?collectionId=2341&galleryName=News#a=1
Posted by: WRMartin | October 8, 2008 4:10 PM
OT
Now I understand. Religion is a code word for
batshitchickenshit crazy.:http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?collectionId=2341&galleryName=News#a=1
Posted by: Steve_C | October 8, 2008 4:12 PM
Hey John,
It's called timed updated. PZ can write them at night or whenever he has free time. and then have them posted whenever he wants.
Plus, when you're godless, Sundays are completely free time.
Posted by: The Retrospective Prophet | October 8, 2008 4:24 PM
And Lo! It shall come to pass, as it is written in the Book of Retrospective Prophecies, that the cephalopod appeareth on a Wednesday, and not on a Friday, as is rightful. And ye shall take it for a sign, that great wonders will shortly come to pass. And what these are, I will prophesy unto you, O, to you of
littleno faith, even when they have come to pass.Posted by: Sili | October 8, 2008 4:57 PM
Mmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhh
Imma gonna have veeeeeery sweet dreams now.
Posted by: Overstroming | October 8, 2008 5:19 PM
Aww, sweet moment! Too bad the photographer's flash probably ruined this octopus's gambit. Still, a great photo.
Posted by: Cruithne | October 8, 2008 6:05 PM
By weird coincidence I just heard JoCo's First Of May song for the very first tme today.
Anyway, who better to give a hand job than an octopus?
Posted by: Jeanette | October 8, 2008 6:11 PM
Sounds like this is the closest many of us have been to getting laid in quite some time. Naughty, PZ, corrupting our innocent geek minds with such graphic images, LOL.
Posted by: Cruithne | October 8, 2008 6:19 PM
By weird coincidence I just heard JoCo's First Of May song for the very first time today.
Anyway, who better to give a hand job than an octopus?
Posted by: The Petey | October 8, 2008 6:35 PM
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade
He'd let us in, knows where we've been
In his octopus' garden in the shade
I'd ask my friends to come and see
An octopus' garden with me
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade.
We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus' garden near a cave
We would sing and dance around
because we know we can't be found
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden in the shade
We would shout and swim about
The coral that lies beneath the waves
(Lies beneath the ocean waves)
Oh what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they're happy and they're safe
(Happy and they're safe)
We would be so happy you and me
No one there to tell us what to do
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden with you.
Posted by: Kel | October 8, 2008 7:55 PM
Ahh, a facehugger!
Posted by: Ann | October 8, 2008 8:39 PM
Petey, whatthehell's your problem with "octopus's"? It's gotta scan, man!
And grammatically, you'd only omit the s after the apostrophe for a plural possessive, like "the Smiths' dog."
Posted by: josh Eckerle | October 8, 2008 9:37 PM
very nice, but i feel that the cuttlefish and nautilus are not being fairly represented in these pictures.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | October 8, 2008 9:44 PM
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | October 8, 2008 9:47 PM
blockquote fail. seems there's only one k in blockquote.
Posted by: Diane | October 8, 2008 10:24 PM
I have wondered the same thing SO many times! I can't even keep up with reading it, and I'm out of work.
One hint, tho--I don't think he reads every post in every 100+ comment section...
Posted by: PZ Myers | October 8, 2008 10:31 PM
Of course I do.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | October 8, 2008 10:37 PM
On behalf of everyone, then, I am most sincerely sorry. . . .
Posted by: Katkinkate | October 9, 2008 4:34 AM
He probably has delegated most of his classes and basic labwork ... what do you think research assistants and PHD students are for.