squid news from mongabay.com

Giant squid caught on video

2013-01-08T22:05:00Z

Last summer, after 55 dives, three scientists in a submarine off the coast of Japan encountered an animal people have mythologized and feared for thousands of years: the giant squid. According to the researchers with Japan's National Science Museum they managed to capture the first footage ever (see below) of a giant squid in its natural habitat, although photos were also released in 2005 of a giant squid feeding.

Sacrificial squid has unique way of deterring predators

2012-09-04T18:16:00Z

Octopoteuthis deletron—this deep-dwelling, unassuming little squid may appear plain and boring, but when threatened, it has a peculiar way of defending itself. This foot-long invertebrate behaves a bit differently than most of its close cousins: it drops its arms.

Noise in oceans leads to 'severe acoustic trauma' in octopus, squid

2011-04-12T03:50:00Z

Researchers have documented for years how noise pollution impacts dolphins in whales, but a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment finds that even low intensity noise can severely injure cephalopods, which include octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. The injuries are bad enough to possibly lead to stranding and death, thereby providing a feasible explanation for a number of recent strandings, including giant squid washing ashore in Spain.

Photo: expedition discovers 20% of world's squids, including new species

2010-11-18T21:35:00Z

An expedition to the seamounts of the southern Indian Ocean has proven that the region is a biodiverse hotspot for squids. To date, the expedition has identified 70 species of squid comprising 20% of the world's known squid species. But that's not all: they have also uncovered new species. At just over 2 feet long (27 inches or 70 centimeters), a species of squid found by the expedition proves to a brand new member of the chiroteuthid family. Squids from this family, which number around a dozen known species, employ bioluminescent organs to attract unwary prey.

Jumbo squid explosion

2010-02-02T04:27:00Z

Jumbo squid are back in the waters of Southern California and anglers are seeing an uptick in business, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Climate change, ocean acidification may doom jumbo squid

2008-12-15T14:30:39Z

Ocean acidification — driven by rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere — may hurt the Humboldt squid, report researchers writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Photos - researchers study largest squid ever captured

2008-04-29T14:30:39Z

Marine biologists in New Zealand are thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught in order to learn more about one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures.

Squid beaks may revolutionize engineering

2008-03-27T14:30:39Z

When scientists dissect the stomachs of sperm whales, they find the super-hard beaks of squids, the only part of them that is indigestible. Scientists can tell the diet of a whale by the variety of beaks left behind, sometimes numbering in the thousands. But how does a squid, whose body is soft and supple, have a beak that is considered one of the hardest organic materials in natures? Scientists have long pondered this question.

Squid chasing drove evolution of whale sonar

2007-09-06T14:30:39Z

A University of California at Berkeley study argues that dolphins and other toothed whales developed sonar to chase schools of squid swimming near the ocean surface at night.

Jumbo squid invade California waters, affecting fish populations

2007-07-25T14:30:39Z

Jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) are invading California waters, putting commercial fish populations at risk, reports a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Giant squid found in Australia

2007-07-11T14:30:39Z

A giant squid has washed up on a beach on the western coast of the Australian island Tasmania, reports Reuters.

Jumbo squid invasion in California

2007-06-06T14:30:39Z

Thousands of Jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) squid are appearing off the coast of Southern California, according to published reports.

Jumbo squid and sperm whales tagged

2007-03-08T14:30:39Z

Scientists have simulatenously tagged sperm whales and jumbo squid off Mexico's Pacific coast, allowing them to be tracked by satellite even as they dive to depths exceeding 3000 feet. Details of the effort are published in in the March 12 edition of the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS).

Giant squid use bioluminescence to hunt prey, communicate

2007-02-23T14:30:39Z

The giant squid uses bioluminescence to hunt its prey, according to new deap-sea observations using a high definition underwater video camera system. The findings are published in the online edition of the roceedings of the Royal Society B.

Photos of world's largest squid

2007-02-22T14:30:39Z

Fishermen in New Zealand may have captured the largest Colossal squid ever recorded. It may be the first time a Colossal squid has ever been seen alive. The beast, weighing 450 kilograms (990 pounds), was eating a Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) hooked by fishermen when it was captured in the deep, frigid waters in the Ross Sea near Antarctica. The squid was reported to be 10 meters (33 feet) in length and took more than two hours to land.

Giant squid captured!

2006-12-22T16:30:39Z

Japanese researchers captured a small female giant squid near the Ogasawara islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo. The squid, which measured 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in) long and weighed 50 kg (110 lb), was hooked at a depth of 650 meters (2,150 ft). The capture comes a year after researchers produced the first photographs and video of living squid.

First picture of live giant squid

2005-09-28T15:19:39Z

For the first time ever, scientists have observed a giant squid in the wild.