FREAKY FRIDAY!
Easily the most terrifying known animal, in my opinion. In fact, it's in my list of greatest fears and has been for several years. I didn't enjoy looking for these pictures, but if I take a step back, they truly are amazing and the fact that we know so little about them is eye-opening considering how large this thing is. You just sort of assume that the big things have been found, but this goes to show that we could be missing quite a bit.
So about the squid, it's NOT the same as a 'giant squid'. Though also large in size (the colossal is the largest known invertebrate in the world). It's not terribly longer than a giant squid, because it has shorter tentacles. But it's mantle size is MUCH larger. So it's heavier and bulkier. Also, they aren't really closely related to giant squid (they're both squid, yes, but they do not share the same genus), surprisingly. They're both large, but there's convergent evolution for you. It's a niche a squid can apparently fill well. These guys live in the Antarctic waters. And this one in the first picture was caught alive, but wouldn't let go of the rope so was pulled in, frozen, and donated to a natural history musem in New Zealand for research and exhibition. It's the largest one ever caught, though based on beak sizes found in stomachs of whales, they can grow to be much larger.
Here are the descriptions of pictures:
1. Colossal Squid: Caught.
2. A diagram of my favorite description of how large it is.
3. Tentacle hooks.
4. Beak
5. Deflated Eyeball
What makes them more terrifying than giant squid:
1. Its tentacles. Most squid tentacles aren't fun to look at, but they have a standard structure... long tentacles with little suckers on them to grip on to prey, rocks and whatever else it wants. Occasionally, you'll get some with razored suckers so they can dig into things as well. These, however, have sharp HOOKS! They puncture things.
2. Their attack. they generally eat fish and smaller squid -- not really in a place where we'd be threatened since it's so deep and we wouldn't withstand the pressure, so we're ok. But they sit in a 'cockatoo' stance (point their tentacles up, and keep them together so they look smaller), and wait. Their eyes (which I will get to in a second) have biolumenescent (think: glow in the dark) spots in them, attracting animals to it, thinking it's a small biolumenescent fish. When it's near; doomsday. The poor fish think they're getting fed, while instead they are attacked by a large squid with sharp hooks. They have giant beaks to crush almost anything that it can catch.
3. Eyes. Their eyes are up to 30 cm in diameter (about 1 foot!)! That's all I have to say about that one.
End of the day, while freaky, certainly fascinating. If you want to learn more, there's this site that includes animated videos of all these things I'm talking about, more pictures, and more research. It's crazy for me to think that while I'm typing this post, these things exist in the antarctic depths either preying or waiting to prey. We know so little about our world.
Easily the most terrifying known animal, in my opinion. In fact, it's in my list of greatest fears and has been for several years. I didn't enjoy looking for these pictures, but if I take a step back, they truly are amazing and the fact that we know so little about them is eye-opening considering how large this thing is. You just sort of assume that the big things have been found, but this goes to show that we could be missing quite a bit.
So about the squid, it's NOT the same as a 'giant squid'. Though also large in size (the colossal is the largest known invertebrate in the world). It's not terribly longer than a giant squid, because it has shorter tentacles. But it's mantle size is MUCH larger. So it's heavier and bulkier. Also, they aren't really closely related to giant squid (they're both squid, yes, but they do not share the same genus), surprisingly. They're both large, but there's convergent evolution for you. It's a niche a squid can apparently fill well. These guys live in the Antarctic waters. And this one in the first picture was caught alive, but wouldn't let go of the rope so was pulled in, frozen, and donated to a natural history musem in New Zealand for research and exhibition. It's the largest one ever caught, though based on beak sizes found in stomachs of whales, they can grow to be much larger.
Here are the descriptions of pictures:
1. Colossal Squid: Caught.
2. A diagram of my favorite description of how large it is.
3. Tentacle hooks.
4. Beak
5. Deflated Eyeball
What makes them more terrifying than giant squid:
1. Its tentacles. Most squid tentacles aren't fun to look at, but they have a standard structure... long tentacles with little suckers on them to grip on to prey, rocks and whatever else it wants. Occasionally, you'll get some with razored suckers so they can dig into things as well. These, however, have sharp HOOKS! They puncture things.
2. Their attack. they generally eat fish and smaller squid -- not really in a place where we'd be threatened since it's so deep and we wouldn't withstand the pressure, so we're ok. But they sit in a 'cockatoo' stance (point their tentacles up, and keep them together so they look smaller), and wait. Their eyes (which I will get to in a second) have biolumenescent (think: glow in the dark) spots in them, attracting animals to it, thinking it's a small biolumenescent fish. When it's near; doomsday. The poor fish think they're getting fed, while instead they are attacked by a large squid with sharp hooks. They have giant beaks to crush almost anything that it can catch.
3. Eyes. Their eyes are up to 30 cm in diameter (about 1 foot!)! That's all I have to say about that one.
End of the day, while freaky, certainly fascinating. If you want to learn more, there's this site that includes animated videos of all these things I'm talking about, more pictures, and more research. It's crazy for me to think that while I'm typing this post, these things exist in the antarctic depths either preying or waiting to prey. We know so little about our world.
that. thing. is. terrifying.
ReplyDeleteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeha.