Comments

  4. David Livesay says

    What/where is this one’s habitat?

    Courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute:

    Grimpoteuthis

    Also known as the “Dumbo octopus”, the Grimpoteuthis is a benthic mollusc found on the ocean floor at depths of 300-400 meters. Dumbo octopuses, which can grow to up to 20 centimeters, are soft-bodied or semi- gelatinous octopuses with a pair of fins located on their mantle and webbing between their arms. Grimpoteuthis swim by moving their fins, pulsing their webbed arms, pushing water through their funnel for jet propulsion, or all three at once. They can swim up off the bottom and hover a bit just above the seafloor looking for snails, worms, and other food.

  5. David Livesay says

    Did anybody here see the Jacques Cousteau film, World Without Sun (1959)?

    It was a long time ago, but there was this scene in the film where they took their little diving saucer down to about 300 meters and saw this strange-looking creature ambling along the seafloor. At the time I thought it looked a little like a plucked, boneless chicken, but now I’m pretty sure it was one of these critters.

  7. Norm Olsen says

    It reminds me of the flapjack devilfish (Opisthoteuthis californiana) that we occasionally observe from our deep water trawl surveys here in British Columbia; now that’s a cool name for a cephalopod!

  8. Bob O'H says

    Is it just me, or does Ishmael mainly appear in Lio on Fridays? I can’t be bothered to check the history, but it’s my impression that he does.

    And yes, the squid is called Ishmael. Or at least was on the Wanted poster.

    Bob

  9. SEF says

    It looks like it would make someone a great hat – some sort of combination rubbery swimming one and broad-brimmed Ascot umbrella substitute. ;-)

  10. azkyroth says

    Hmm. Eight arms, webbing almost the length of the arms, and fins it can swim with. It shares an intriguing set of characteristics with the vampire “squid.” Is there a known relationship?

  11. David Livesay says

    Hmm. Eight arms, webbing almost the length of the arms, and fins it can swim with. It shares an intriguing set of characteristics with the vampire “squid.” Is there a known relationship?

    Not a close one. They are both Octopodiformes, but Vampyroteuthis has its own order, Vampyromorpha, all to itself. It is the only member of Octopodiformes that is not a member of the Octopoda, and it has characteristics of both the octopods and decapods.
    It’s kinda like one o’ them transitional forms that creationists say don’t exist.

  12. blf says

    One day someone is going to discover a new cephalopod, and name it after one PZ Myers.

    Um, sounds tasty! Got a favourite recipe?

    B.t.w., how does one shave a squid? I can imagine the pzmyerspogonotrophy will need a bit of preparation…