cephalopods

TONMO

Channel One

The guards should have known. Inky had just been biding his time, planning patiently. And then he scurried down a sewer pipe late at night, to freedom! If I'd been guarding him, I would have been suspicious of that poster of Ursula from The Little Mermaid that he'd requested, too, and would have regularly checked behind it.

The Squid Scientists take a photo of their baby animals, and unwittingly reveal what they're actually doing. Look behind the squid -- I know it's hard, why would you want to look past cephalopods? -- and what do you see? That blurry poster in the background? It's a space shuttle launch. And now you know. This is a top secret program to train Euprymna scolopes to pilot spacecraft. They'd probably be better at 3-dimensional thinking than us, so it's only natural. Quick, reboot Star Trek with a more appropriate cast! Oh, I think it's been done--the Thermians from the Klaatu Nebula in Galaxy…

The Australian Giant Cuttlefish aggregation is truly one of nature’s great events. Thousands of cuttlefish congregate in the shallow waters around the Spencer gulf in South Australia, to mate and perpetuate the species. The cuttlefish like alien beings, display an array of patterns, textures and colours to indicate their intentions. As male courts a female or wards off other males, and entourage of suiters stay poised for an opportunity to mate with the female. A visual delight and a rare glimpse of nature in all its glory. Scott Portelli

Squid Scientists Pffft. Multicellularity is overrated.

They're adorable! And you could watch them chase down, capture, and bloodily devour guppies! But they're also delicate and demanding, and I sure wouldn't rush to try…and I'm an experienced aquarist. But if you really must, here's a discussion of a standard protocol.

A strange new octopod has been discovered deep in the ocean. There's also a video.

This is a recently caught specimen of Onykia robusta, the third largest species of squid in the world. Everyone knows the colossal squid and the giant squid, which can get to be about 15 meters long, but the Robust Clubhook squid is #3 at 4 meters. Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory

No restraint or decorum, they just go at it out there in public. It's good to be the squid. Brian Skerry

The Seattle aquarium isn't playing the matchmaking game with their octopuses anymore, for a chilling reason: they're afraid that a date might turn into a public cannibal orgy. I don't recall that peril from my youth, back when I was actively dating. I'm lucky to have escaped Seattle alive!

They're already in their pajamas. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new exhibit of the Striped Pyjama Squid. Guess what they look like? Adorable. That's what they look like.

But also deadly, the prettiest kind of pink there is. The Tentacle

Aydin Tanal

This is a new one: an octopus farm. Kanaloa Octopus Farm is open for business -- for $200, you can get your very own pet octopus. Unfortunately, they're caught in a chicken-and-egg problem. You should not encourage the capture of cephalopods in the wild, so it's a great idea to have a breeding program to provide animals for aquarists. But they're still in the process of building up their stocks, so they're selling their smaller wild-caught octopuses, which isn't so good. Need I point out that you also should not buy an octopus unless you have the facilities and experience to care for them…

Don't you just love those photo series of the young'uns at different ages? Developmental staging of Octopus bimaculoides. a Whole egg photomicrograph illustrates the egg stalk and the animal pole (asterisk) where the embryonic body forms. Extent of epiboly in this stage (st) 8 embryo is marked with arrowheads. b End on view of a stage 8 embryo with the egg capsule and yolk removed. In dark field illumination, the organ primordia are visible as ectodermal and mesodermal thickenings. The mantle anlage (m) is central, the prospective mouth (mo) at the top of the panel is anterior, and the arm…

Toyama Bay got a visit from a mythological being, all dressed in red, on Christmas day. It was beautiful. It seems to be Architeuthis dux, and is about 4 meters long. It just cruised in, ambled about, and the authorities plan to just let it swim away. If it can -- giant squid on the surface tend to be sick and unhappy. But still…! I'm waiting for the day one swims up the Pomme de Terre river to bring me presents. There's more discussion about this squid (in English!) on TONMO.

National Aquarium

We'll have to advance the invasion plan. A scout squad of paper nautiluses have been exposed off the coast of California. Several of the scouts bravely tried to wrest the camera from the spy, but failed. We're going to have to send some muscle to accompany the reconnaissance patrols from now on -- all we needed was a few Humboldt squid to have been able to completely suppress this exposure. Puny humans. Nothing will stop the massive Cephalopod Armada!