Ecology & Zoology

On one of my recent safari’s through the internet jungle, I came across a remarkable little creature. It’s a small (maximum diameter about 4.5 millimeters) bell-shaped jellyfish, with a number of tentacles ranging from 8 in young specimens to 90 in adult ones. It’s name is Turritopsis nutricula (see figure 1), and it can actually age backwards. A cnidarian Benjamin Button, as it were.      Figure 1: The immortal jellyfish, T. nutricula. (Source: zmescience)     When it finds itself in adverse conditions, the medusa stage (the free-living jellyfish stage, in contrast…

What is five times the tensile strength of steel and  the best currently available synthetic fibers?  If you read the title you already know.   Spider thread is a fascinating and often-studied material but no one has managed to produce it on an industrial scale. Scientists of the TU Muenchen (TUM) and the Universitaet Bayreuth (UBT) say they have now succeeded in discovering another secret of silk proteins and the mechanism that imparts spider silk with its strength. How do spiders manage to first store the silk proteins in the silk gland and to then assemble them in the…

Scientists at the Smithsonian and partnering organizations have discovered a remarkably primitive eel they have named Protoanguilla palau in a fringing reef off the coast of the Republic of Palau. This fish exhibits many primitive anatomical features unknown in the other 19 families and more than 800 species of living eels, resulting in its classification as a new species belonging to a new genus and family.  Many of the physical features of Protoanguilla palau reflect its relationship to the 19 families of Anguiliformes (true eels) currently living. Other, more primitive physical…

For serious, you guys, look at this! Just in from The Epoch Times, Science in Pics: Bobtail squid burying itself in sand at Seraya in Bali, Indonesia. (Matthew Oldfield)The little fins seem to be waving furiously as this chap was caught mid-burrow. SO CUTE. I think I might have to set up my home aquarium just to breed these guys. If you want to know whether a bobtail squid is a true squid, here's my previous taxonomic assessment.

From a certain perspective, it's really weird that we manage fisheries in these discrete little units based on species. There are swordfish permits, swordfish boats, swordfish managers. There are squid permits, squid boats, squid managers. And so on. But species don't exist in neat boxes. That's the fundamental truth behind ecology. When you go out to catch one species, you're bound to run across several other species as well, and even the most carefully designed fishing gear will occasionally catch something it wasn't supposed to. A few months ago, I blogged about one of these problematic…

It's about squid and it's about sperm, and apparently the combination is sexy enough to get this research onto the BBC, MSNBC, Discover, and more. (Not to malign io9--that's actually where I first read about it.) The particular squid in question is Loligo bleekeri--whoops, I mean Doryteuthis bleekeri--er, I mean Heterololigo bleekeri. Taxonomists*, can we please get this species complex sorted out??  ANYWAY, as is common in loliginid squids, male bleekeri come in two flavors: consorts and sneakers. Consorts are larger and engage in…

In general, human beings tend to be quite generous. As such, it is not a big step to question whether the same is true for our close evolutionary cousins, the chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). A new study indicates that it might. When it comes to chimp sharing behavior, there has long been a discrepancy between studies in the field, and those in laboratory settings. In the field, chimpanzees have been known to share food, console each other and lend support during a fight. In lab experiments, however, chimps don’t really share, and are viewed as ‘reluctant altruists’, sharing only when prompted…

I love the weird articles that show up on my "squid" news alert. Here's one about the Australia Census called Portrait of a nation, squid jiggers and all: The last official ''snapshot of the nation'', taken in 2006, turned up 58,053 Jedi Knights. At least one person, when asked their religion, stated ''Moroccan Chicken'', the Bureau of Statistics revealed recently. Of the more than 400 languages spoken at home by Australians, 133 people in the 1996 census nominated an ''invented language''. Twelve people nominated ''squid jigging'' as their profession in the 2001 census, which, to be fair,…

NPR's Science Friday was about cephalopods two days ago! I've no time to opine at length, but basically it's awesome and you can take a listen here. It's an interview with Roger Hanlon, who is pretty much the cephalopod camouflage expert. And if it's frustrating to hear about how pretty cephalopods are without being able to see it, well, there's a video too!

This post is going to be a bit gruesome. If you're not interested, go look at something cute instead. That's what I would do. Well, the head and body (mantle) are undeniably separated. Was the head removed from the body or the body removed from the head? Does it matter? There are really two questions here: (1) does separating the head from the mantle kill the squid and, if so, how quickly/painfully? (2) is the squid still alive when soy sauce is used to activate its muscles in odori-don? The answer to the first is yes: no squid can live by head and arms alone (or by mantle alone). But that…