Friday Deep-Sea Picture (8/24/07)

i-08597956b474feb3aab94fd69345b964-deepsea2.jpg
From NG: Despite its delicate, decorated appearance, this jewel squid was found 1,650 lung-crushing feet (500 meters) beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. Scientists on a recent deep-sea expedition found the squid, called Histioteuthis, along with an abundance of other species thought to be very rare, if not unknown, elsewhere. Jewel squid are known for their mismatched eyes, one of which is larger than the other to scope for prey in the deep's darkness. More pictures here...

More like this

Living in a world of sunshine and electricity, we tend to take light for granted. Heck, we complain when clouds diminish our bright sunny rays. But dip just beneath the surface of the ocean and light becomes a rare commodity. More than half of the light that penetrates the ocean surface is absorbed…
This is not new, but it is cool: The NORFANZ sea sampling project. What is a little new is that many of these species are claimed on some crazy web site to have washed ashore during the Christmas Tsunami three years ago. That is not true.... Jewel Squid (Histioteuthis sp.) The jewel squids are…
tags: Antarctica, Weddell Sea, new species, ANDEEP, zoology The scientists said an "astonishingly diverse" collection of isopods had been discovered. This young male isopod represents one of 674 isopod species found. Image: W. Brokeland. [larger image] According to a paper that was recently…
The series continues! Chris Mah and Peter's recent and wonderful posts have goaded me into next segment of the 25 Things You Should Know About The Deep Sea (the last post in this series links to all the previous). The beginnings of deep-sea science in the late 1800's was dominated by two ideas…

Wow!.

Does the dissimmetry in the eye mirror an equivalent dissimmetry in the brain to better process the different input? I am surprised as I thought that down there no light would make it, so predators would rely on other senses to hunt their preys...

Bioluminescence is the primary source of light at 500m, Luca. Some squid prey have photophores to emit this light. Squid have photophores, too. Deep-sea squid flash light before they attack their prey. Here's more on that story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6357005.stm

By Peter Etnoyer (not verified) on 28 Aug 2007 #permalink