Friday Cephalopod: Brilliant blue

Oh, so pretty!

OK, from my time spent in tapas bars in Spain I recall sepia being cuttlefish. With a name like sepiteuthis sepioiodea. I'd say the latin roughly translates to cuttlely cuttlfishy. Correct?

It's very early, I read that as Canadian reef squid.

At the risk of repeating myself...

C'est beau!

PS: Happy 4th to our southern neighbors!

Pretty...

Random question Mr. Myers, but I was wondering, given your affinity towards cephalopods, do you refrain from eating them?

This is very cool, PZ.

I am wishing that I was wherever this photo was taken...look at that water! Please don't tell me it was anywhere near New Jersey.

Please, everyone have a safe 4th!

Please don't tell me it was anywhere near New Jersey.

Caribbean reef squid

Where would you find water that clear in Jersey? Even the tanks in their zoos (erm, aquariums) are too turbid to see through. :P

Beautiful squid though. Nice and shiny.

Gosh, that's gorgeous.

I wish that these great images in Friday Cephalopod linked to places providing larger high-res files...sigh

There is more information about Sepioteuthis sepioidea Reef Squid at http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=286 .

"It is often encountered among shallow reefs and is usually unafraid of divers, if not curious about them. The mantles of newly hatched squid are about 8-9 mm in length and the mantles in adult males and females reach 12-20 cm in length. Adult reef squid closely resemble their cousins, the cuttlefish, in that their bodies are broad and less streamlined than many other squids. Reef squid can also move using jet propulsion by pressing water from the pallial cavity (in the mantle) through their funnel to move through the water."

Stunningly gorgeous!

And a happy 4th July to all US Pharyngulites from across the Atlantic!

Reef squid? People, coral reefs are threatened by (a) rising ocean temperatures, (b) ocean acidification, and (c) other kinds of pollution as well. There are already many reefs, such as those in Fiji, which have been completely destroyed by one or more of the above. This squid is part of the swimming dead.

Claudia, I can't speak for PZ, but as another appreciator, my take on it is that cephalopods don't refrain from eating one another, so they're fair game...

That picture is wonderful I can't tell if the animal is really blue or clear or how much of each.
it has a kind of sly expression.

a personal comment or observation
I can not think of anything we as humans eat that does not have it's share of beauty. We do not eat anything that we would characterize as being UGLY.

Squiddhartha, that is a great point! I shall feel less guilt now.

And I don't know that I agree with you, uncle frogy. I think poultry is pretty ugly...

Very pretty. I especially like the subtle lavendars.

Uncle Frogy, #14, wrote:

We do not eat anything that we would characterize as being UGLY.

I beg to differ. I watched an episode of Iron Chef where the mystery ingredient was anglerfish - and those suckers were some of the ugliest creatures I've ever seen.

Then there's the stonefish (), which is pretty ugly; according to the Wikipedia entry they eat that.

On the stonefish; I tend to think it's yet another good argument against benevolent, humano-centric intelligent design - the only thing it can offer a human is a sting featuring one of the most agonising toxins there is.

I've heard stories (unverified) that people have drowned themselves because the agony is so intense.

I can't thank you enough for Friday Cephalopods. I used to date a wildlife biologist (who was almost a marine biologist) and we had a few cephalopods that lived in the house briefly. For their sake, I prefer them in their natural habitat, but I miss seeing them. Amazing, wonderful, gorgeous creatures. It's so great to see a new one every week. :) Hurray!