squid
laelaps | October 8, 2007
Close-up of a cuttlefish, taken at Disney's "Living Seas" exhibit
The holidays seem to be coming earlier every year, and today is International Cephalopod Awareness Day! Indeed, it's always a good thing to be aware of cephalopods (it's 12 PM, do you know where Architeuthis is?), especially since the consequences of not being so can be rather painful, or at least very inky. Even if you can't celebrate the day via your own blog, why not pick up some cephalopod-based literature? I'm going with Hanlon & Messenger's Cephalopod Behaviour, but whatever you do, be sure to see PZ's collection of…
zooillogix | July 5, 2007So maybe it doesn't "terrorize" so much as it "fascinates" nerds like us, but nevertheless, a truly bizarre critter has emerged from the depths of the Pacific. Researchers at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii used a 3,000 foot hose to suck the hapless cephalopod up from the black depths off Keahole Point last week. The slippery subject, which may be an entirely new species, has the body of a squid but the eight suction-cupped arms of an octopus. Octosquid arrived at the surface alive because cephalopods' bag-like bodies naturally adjust to pressure changes. The two black ratfish that…