Deep sea roundup

by Gene on Jul. 25th, 2007
in Life Science, Diversity of Organisms, and Interdependence of Life

comments

These three stories are all about weird fish. No, not the restaurant in SF, but the wet kind.: Photo by lawgeek at flickr.com

I surf the web. I read the blogs. I see stuff that looks interesting, and I file it away, They accumulate, they reach critical mass, and they burst forth in full, horrendous flower.

Which is a roundabout way of saying, I’ve seen a few interesting articles on marine life lately, and rather than write three separate posts, I thought I’d wrap them all up into one.

Octosquid

Scientists in Hawaii have discovered a new deep-sea creature with the arms of an octopus and the mantle of a squid. Dubbed “octosquid,” it was caught in the filter of a deep sea pipeline.

Hungry squid invade California

Humboldt squid, a giant predator that can grow 7 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, has expanded its range into central California. It normally hangs out in tropical waters from Peru to Costa Rica. But fishing pressures have reduced its natural predators – tuna, swordfish and sharks – resulting in a squid population explosion. They have moved north into new territory. Humans, seals, otters and other mammals have nothing to fear, but the squid do eat large amounts of hake, anchovy and other commercial fish.

Sea monsters

Check out this photo gallery of weird, cool creatures of the deep.

Your Comments, Thoughts, Questions, Ideas

Liza says:

Ah, the Humboldt squid. We haven't posted about these guys since 2005, so it's good to see them on the Buzz again.

Being a long-time, ardent fan of the REAL giant squid (i.e. Architeuthis), I'm always disappointed by the stories with these promising headlines (i.e. "Voracious jumbo squid invade California"). I imagine a scene straight from some 1950s "B" horror movie, where we see gigantic, rubbery tentacles menacing, say, Santa Monica, with hordes of beachgoers fleeing in terror as the pier topples into the sea. Alas. The truth, while scientifically interesting, is no match for the movie in my mind!

Another disappointment: the link to the photo gallery of weird creatures of the deep didn't work.

I'm loving the Octosquid, though.

posted on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 11:54am

Gene says:

Sorry. Don't know how the link got messed up, but it seems to be working now.

posted on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 12:01pm

JGordon says:

Oh, man. The sea never fails to delight and horrify me. Mostly horrify.
I love the giant squid, though. It factors heavily in to two major life goals of mine (in order):

1) Eat a giant squid, eventually.

2) Get eaten by a giant squid, eventually.

I'm hoping that I'll already be dead by the time #2 happens, or at least asleep. Still, I hear that beggars can't be choosers.

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Deep sea roundup

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