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Squids
by Mike Walsh
"Something
on the horizon captain, looks like a merchant ship,"
-said First Mate Jones
Come
to course 270, flank speed, brace for impact!"
- ordered Captain Nemo
"Wait,
that's no ship, it's a giant squid! Prepare to attack!"
- shouted Nemo
In Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo and his crew are attacked by a fifty foot, giant squid. Throughout the novel, and movie, Nemo grapples with the best method for killing off this biological wonder. He decides that a spear toting Martin Sheen is the best possible scenario, so he orders Sheen's character to single handedly destroy the creature. Although the likelyhood of a "killer squid" is very low, the squid in the movie was portrayed with many realistic qualities found in the actual species of squid roaming the depths of today's oceans. This site will accurately and truthfully give the animal the recognition it deserves.
The Long-finned Squid is native to the Atlantic seaboard and belongs to the phylum Molluska. It ranges from the cold depths off Nova Scotia to the warm waters of the Carolinas. Throughout April all the way into November, the long-finned squid can be easily found in its native waters off of New England. Its cousin, the Common Squid, is primarily found off the Californian coast and deep into Pacific waters. While both squid are very much alike, they also contain slight differences.
Anatomically, the two squid are very similar. Long-finned squid have two fins on the sides of their bodies ranging from their tails to about the halfway point along their bodies. Both have beaks, which assist in crushing and eat their food. These beaks are similar to those of common birds and resemble them physically as well. Common squid have relatively small fins measuring only a few inches. Squid range from one inch to the Architeuthis princepes, which is estimated to be the largest invertebrate at 65 feet. Both have similar internal structures and display the same external tentacles and arms. The squid do not have a true skeleton , but all squid have a clear, plastic-like "pen" which supports the entire body. The reason for the name "pen" is that in colonial times, the people would dip the tip of the squid skeleton into ink and use it to write with. The squid's eyes are comparable to those of humans. They contain a complex set of rods and cones suggesting that the squid has adequate eye sight in both day and night environments.
Typically, they both types have eight arms which the squid has limited control, and two multipurpose tentacles. The tentacles assist the squid in capturing prey, killing the prey, and in sexual reproduction. The tentacles contain rows of suction cups that not only grasp prey, put also contain rings of teeth in which the squid can tear into the flesh of its prey. They have strict control over the tentacles, relying more on their arms to entangle and snare its food.
The long-finned as well as common squid mainly eat crustaceans and small fish, depending on the size of the squid. Legend has it that giant sixty five foot squid would attack animals as large as Sperm Whales. While no documentation truly exists to back up this claim, it is theoretically possible for a large enough squid to attack and successfully kill a whale, but unlikely. Squid are timid creatures by nature. They rely on their speed and natural "smoke screen", or sepia, to elude predators. While the squid uses its fins for propulsion, it also draws in water through a mantle cavity pushing it out the other end of its body by means of a muscular "siphon". To confuse its attacker, squid carry specialized sacs of ink, sepia, internally. When threatened, the squid contracts muscles around the sac releasing the black cloud of ink while escaping off into the depths.
Squids are sexually dimorphic, requiring both a male and female to successfully reproduce. The male, using his tentacles, reaches inside of himself and grabs sperm packets. He then places the sperm packets inside of the female to complete the process. After the eggs develop enough into singular units, the female then lays them on the ocean floor, attached to sea weeds, or to other adhesive substances like rock. There, the eggs make perfect meals for many creatures including fish, crabs, lobsters, and other squid. Eventually, the surviving eggs hatch, releasing hundreds of new squid into the sea, where they again become unmercifully attacked by almost every creature breathing water. Once mature, squid become a major target for whales and humans. The eggs are "brownish white" when they are hatched, according to Martinez's reference book. Squid come in all colors as well. Some are white, some are brown. Some living at extreme depths have developed a near transparent color with luminescent spots doting its mantle. Over the years, nature has changed the color of the squid to accommodate the changing environments in which it lives in.