Friday Deep-Sea Picture (7/27/07): Humboldt Squid

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Image credit: (c) 2003 MBARI, A pair of Humboldt squid hunting in Monterey Bay. Over the last five years, large, predatory Humboldt squid have moved north from equatorial waters and invaded the sea off Central California, where they may be decimating populations of Pacific hake, an important commercial fish. More on the study here at DSN.

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Growing up to two meters (six feet) long, Humboldt squid are formidable predators that hunt krill and a variety of fishes. Their normal habitat is within the tropical and subtropical waters of the East Pacific. Over the last few years, however, Humboldt squid have begun moving into cooler-water…
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These stories about the Humboldt squid invasion off the California coast keep turning up — the latest from the San Jose Mercury News is broadly informative, and even cites a fresh new paper in PNAS. The work correlates the depth range of the squid with that of the Pacific hake, and also shows a…
The New York Times ran a nice article yesterday on the northward expansion of the hefty (up to 100 lbs.) Humboldt squid. Scientists are queried why the Humboldt squid has, over the last ten years, made a home in Monterey, California (it wasn't because of low taxes). A study of squid stomachs (not…

Can squids be any cuter? You gotta love their big ol'cyclopic eye ball.

Great job keeping the blog up to date, Craig. Thanks for sharing.