cephalopods
pharyngula | June 9, 2007Somebody out there must be able to give me a fix—I keep trying to get this paper, and either my library gives me ambiguous messages about access and a few errors, or the Royal Soc. site balks and tells me that there is system maintenance going on. I can't even get to the videos. Come on, man, I'm going through withdrawal here. I need a little taste. Please.
Kubodera T, Koyama Y, Mori K (2007) Observations of wild hunting behaviour and bioluminescence of a large deep-sea, eight-armed squid, Taningia danae. Proc Biol Sci 274(1613): 1029-34.
There's got to be a fellow academic out there who's…
pharyngula | June 8, 2007Sepioloida lineolata
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | June 7, 2007How else can I respond to this wretched rant against our beloved cephalopods last night? He claims that "Narrowing the gap between cephalopods and humans can only lead to disaster" and that "Our seafood is training for something big", and he's right—and the only appropriate response is to welcome our new tentacled masters. Defiance and threats, like those of Mr Colbert, will only hasten your subjugation.
pharyngula | June 6, 2007Octopus vulgaris reacting to a diver (predator).
The initial change from camouflaged to conspicuous takes only milliseconds due to direct neural control of the skin. Full expression of the threat display (right) is two seconds. Video frame rate is 30 frames per second. Watch the video clip.
Everyone here is familiar with the incredible ability of cephalopods to change their appearance, right? If you aren't, review your cuttlefish anatomy and watch this video. A few frames from the video are shown on the right.
This is an amazing ability, and the question is how do they do it? Roger Hanlon has…
pharyngula | June 5, 2007Chris Clarke claims I'm doing a cameo in this video. Was I the jogger? The policeman? The nun? The construction worker? Oh, hey…there I am. Nice outfit.
Chris also wants me to introduce him to Julieta. Sorry, Chris, I think she'd find your appendages…inadequate.
pharyngula | June 1, 2007Needle cuttlefish, Sepia aculeata, front view at night, Dumaguete, Negros Island, Philippines
(via ArteSub, where you can find a whole collection of underwater photography)
pharyngula | May 25, 2007Argonauta nodosa
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | May 18, 2007Sepia latimanus
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | May 11, 2007That Holbo fella puts up a post about octopuses — it's got a winged cephalopod, and one driving a car — and he wasn't inspired to wax holbonically upon it? I'm disappointed.
pharyngula | May 11, 2007
Seaducer sent me this photo, taken on a dive near Bonaire—the colors and shadows and the meaty, fleshy look of the beast give it a wonderfully baleful look.
pharyngula | May 10, 2007
A new book titled Flock of Dodos (a book, not the movie, and apparently the two have nothing to do with each other) is coming out, and Glenn Branch of the NCSE tells me it mentions something vile about William Jennings Bryan, the defender of creationism at the Scopes trial. That's his campaign poster to the right. Look closely, very closely — it's a rather small image — down at the bottom left. There's a cephalopod defending the American flag, and some kind of crazed scullery maid attacking it with an axe. Obviously, Bryan was no friend of biodiversity.
The description in the book of this…
pharyngula | May 8, 2007There's something about this new blog that tells me I'm going to be a regular reader, but I can't quite put my finger on why.
pharyngula | May 7, 2007
This product is apparently a joke, but as long as Coke is constantly tinkering with their formula, I don't see why dumping in an extract of fried mollusc shouldn't be within the realm of possibility.
pharyngula | May 4, 2007
Grimpoteuthis is a cephalopod so cute, now it's being compared to Pikachu. That's harsh. Being plump and adorable is a good way to get kicked out of the savage monster club.
I know. I've been there.
pharyngula | May 4, 2007planktonic octopus paralarva
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | May 3, 2007
If they're going to be that uninformed about the perilous sea beasts they encounter, they deserve to spend eternity in Davy Jones' Locker, mastering monstrous taxonomy.
pharyngula | April 27, 2007Amphitretus pelagicus
There are many more photos of adorable creatures of the deep sea at this site.
pharyngula | April 20, 2007Sepiadarium austrinum
By the way, did you know that creationists hate cephalopods because they can't stuff them in a sack and throw them in the water to drown? Also because they're cute and lovable and beautiful.
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
pharyngula | April 17, 2007But why should that reduce The Comics Curmudgeon to a "quivering, urine-soaked lump of fear"?