cephalopods
pharyngula | March 19, 2010All right, I know, it's a fake cephalopod and the picture is mostly taken up with some chordate…but I couldn't resist.
pharyngula | March 12, 2010Enteroctopus dofleini
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | March 5, 2010Uh-oh. People have often sent me strange photos like this; apparently, cephalopod porn can get you arrested in the UK.
The charge involving the sea creature states the image was of someone "performing an act of intercourse with a dead animal, namely an octopus/squid, which was grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character".
Yeah, it is kind of disgusting to see poor cephalopods tormented with the weird, creepy anatomy of vertebrates. It's also offensive to see that the Swansea police can't tell the difference between squid and octopus.
But why should we have laws that…
pharyngula | March 5, 2010Sepioteuthis sepioidea
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | March 3, 2010Weep with me.
You know, the rotten little crunchy, jointed thing wouldn't have stood a chance if he'd been fighting within his own weight-class. I found this video on a blog called Arthropoda — a clearly biased advocacy site for violence on molluscs by the world's dominant, bullying metazoans.
Here's what happens when the odds aren't stacked against the cephalopod.
Although…notice the bit near the end where the narrator refers to "a mere invertebrate"? I think that guy at Arthropoda and I would team up to thump him for that.
pharyngula | February 26, 2010For some reason, Grimpoteuthis always makes me think of Wimpy.
(via Frozenly, which also has a number of other photos of weird creatures found in the Mariana Trench)
pharyngula | February 20, 2010I'm going to dope myself up and flop into bed so I can get over this slimy cold — and speaking of slimy cold, here are some deep sea creatures to tide you over for a bit.
pharyngula | February 19, 2010Octopus cyanea
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | February 14, 2010I guess that giant platter of cheese called Megashark vs. Giant Octopus was not enough — now the SyFy Channel has commissioned a new project, Sharktopus. I don't want to know any more.
The worst part is…yes, I will watch it.
pharyngula | February 12, 2010
It's a bit sad looking, but it really is an 8.2 meter long giant squid preserved in a tank at the Darwin Centre in London, with various other bottled specimens in the background…including some that were collected and labeled by Charlie Darwin himself.
pharyngula | February 8, 2010This article on why an octopus is more awesome than your mom is generally accurate and valid — octopuses probably are more awesome than your mom — but suffers a bit from an incomplete survey of moms. The author has not met the awesome mom of me, nor is he acquainted with the ferocious Trophy Wife™, who also happens to moonlight as the indomitable Trophy Mother™.
Otherwise, though, it is an acceptable overview of octopodal merits.
pharyngula | January 17, 2010Warning: Explicit Sex Video involving Tentacles ahead!
Warning #2: Really Cheesy Narration ahead, too!
pharyngula | January 8, 2010Allonautilus scrobiculatus
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | January 5, 2010Tragic news from Portugal: thousands of dead octopuses are washing up on the beaches. Not only is it sad news for the cephalopods, but it tells us that something unpleasant is going on out there in the sea. Unfortunately, no one knows what just yet.
pharyngula | December 31, 2009I don't usually post videos for the Friday Cephalopod, but you've got to see it in motion to appreciate the cuddliness.
pharyngula | December 29, 2009People send me the strangest pictures. This one was very confusing: I couldn't tell whether it was food, science, or porn. Anyway, it trips a few triggers.
I should mention that in the flood of peculiar email, I do often get squid porn: attractive young ladies draped with various molluscs, and little or nothing else. I don't mind — although it makes my mail attachments folder a weird, perverse place — but don't be offended if those pictures never get posted here. There are limits!