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Video captures mothering behavior of squid University of Rhode Island release December 15, 2005 Squid have always been considered poor parents: they lay their eggs on the seafloor and leave them to develop on their own. But a University of Rhode Island scientist has made the first observation of parental care by squid when he used a remotely operated underwater vehicle in the deep sea to watch as five squid each carried thousands of eggs in their arms. “Our finding is unexpected because this behavior differs from the reproductive habits of all other known squid species,” wrote Brad Seibel, a URI assistant professor of biological sciences who collaborated with colleagues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute on the discovery. Gonatus onyx is one of the most abundant species of squid in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but because it spawns at great depths it has been difficult to observe its reproductive behaviors.
According to Seibel, repeated extension of the squid’s arms appeared to be an intentional effort to flush water through the eggs to aerate them in the oxygen-starved waters found at depths of 5,000 to 7,000 feet off California. Seibel’s discovery was also unexpected because it was thought that the arm and mantle muscles of squid deteriorate soon after sexual maturation, rendering the adult squid incapable of carrying its eggs. Seibel said this may still be somewhat true, because the squid he observed were unable to swim as efficiently as unencumbered ones, making them more likely to be preyed upon by whales and seals. Related articles First picture of live giant squid For the first time ever, scientists have observed a giant squid in the wild. Two Japanese scientists, Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori, report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B [the B standing for the biological sciences] that they have made the world's first observations of a wild giant squid. This article features a news release titles "Researcher Makes First-ever Observation Of Squid Caring For Eggs" from the University Of Rhode Island. News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo! Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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