5 favourite cephalopods: the one with all of them.

I quite like doing strings of themed posts like that. 

Cephalopods are just beautiful, amazing & incredibly intelligent animals. Anyways, here they are, if anyones interested (top to bottom, left to right, click through for orignal post):

1. Dosidicus gigas, The Humboldt Squid. Or in spanish, Diablo Rojo (Red Devil)

2. Tremoctopus, the Blanket Octopus

3. Enteroctopus Dofleini, The Giant Pacific Octopus

4. Todarodes pacificus, Japanese Flying Squid

5. Wunderpus photogenicus, The Wonderpus

5 favourite cephalopods, no.5:

Cephalopods are an amazingly diverse class of animals, but out of all of them there is one which i just can’t help loving. It isn’t the small and cute Hawaii Bobtail Squid, it isn’t the absolutely terrifying Vampyroteuthis infernalis (otherwise known as the Vampire Squid from Hell). It’s the majestic, incredibly intelligent and also somewhat terrifying Humboldt Squid, Dosidicus gigas. 

These animals can reach lengths of 1.75 (and that’s just the mantle, so it doesn’t include the head, arms or tentacles) and weigh as much as 50 kg. They hunt in shoals of up to 1500 indivudals, and usually reside between 200-700 meters.

Divers often describe them as incredibly curious animals (although this curiosity may be mistaken for agression, having a 2 meter long squid with hooked tentacles feel you up wouldn’t exactly make you feel great). They’re the only invertebrate known to hunt in shoals and communicate with each other, they even show hunting strategies. They’re almost like the killer whales of cephalopods.

Sadly, studies have found that ocean acidification may hit the Humboldt hard: it was found that if acidification continues increase at the same rate metabolic rate may decrease by as much as 30% and activity levels by almost 50% by the end of the century.

If any animal on earth, D. gigas is truly a masterpiece of evolution, and that is why it’s my favourite of all time.

5 favourite cephalopods countdown, no.2: Japanese Flying Squid, Todarodes pacificus.

Commonly growing to around 40-50 cm, these squid can jump out of the water and have been seen covering distances of 50 m above the surface. Often mistaken for Flying Fish, they are commonly found in the northern pacific. Pretty cool. 

Closely related to the Greenland Shark, the Pacific Sleeper Shark, Somniosus pacificus live in the deep waters of the northern pacific. Growing to a max size of 7 meters, it (along with the sperm whale) is one of only two creatures to feed on Colossal Squid and Giant Squid.

This little deep sea cephalopod can turn itself transparent when it feels like it. Good way to stay out of predators way.

This little deep sea cephalopod can turn itself transparent when it feels like it. Good way to stay out of predators way.

Posted these before, but i love them. Bobtail Squid.

Posted these before, but i love them. Bobtail Squid.

a Gonatus type squid. When fully grown (depends on species, but under 45 cm long), they have very short tentacles and two very long tentacular clubs with large hooks on them. 

a Gonatus type squid. When fully grown (depends on species, but under 45 cm long), they have very short tentacles and two very long tentacular clubs with large hooks on them. 

I think sharks get a lot of bad press. Yeah, a lot of people get bitten by sharks, but most of them aren’t fatal as sharks usually do not bite humans to eat them, they just bite cause they’re curious or they’ve mistaken you for a seal. I would much sooner get in the water with a shark than i would with a school of angry Humboldt squid or a grumpy Titan Triggerfish.

The Sperm Whale:

Quite an impressive creature, it once sank an american whale ship (The Essex, 1820) killing 13 people. Its also thought to be a predator of Giant Squid, with the indigestible beaks often found in its stomach. The bottom left pictures shows a sperm whale eating squid.

Moroteuthis robusta, the Robust Clubhook Squid. The picture above was long thought to be a Giant Squid, it is however a Clubhook, the third largest squid in the world.

Moroteuthis robusta, the Robust Clubhook Squid. The picture above was long thought to be a Giant Squid, it is however a Clubhook, the third largest squid in the world.

These creepy looking things are Squid Beaks. Wouldn’t want one of those digging in to you, would you? The top one, is a Colossal Squid beak, measuring about 15 cm across. That would hurt.

This curious looking thing is the Bigfin Squid, a group of very rare cephalopods. Sadly this means that the only existent pictures of it are a bit blurry, but it still looks very cool. So far, 5 different species have between discovered and only a few sightings have been reported. Isn’t there so much left to discover?