Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy halloween! This is a photo of a deep sea glass squid. Pretty scary, huh?

From Wikipedia: "...Eye morphology varies widely, ranging from large and circular to telescopic and stalked. A large fluid-filled chamber containing ammonia solution is used to aid buoyancy. Often the only organ that is visible through the transparent tissues is a cigar-shaped digestive gland, which is the cephalopod equivalent of a mammalian liver. This is usually held in a vertical position to reduce its silhouette and a light organ is sometimes present on the lower tip to further minimise its appearance in the water.

Like most squid, the juveniles of cranchiid squid live in surface waters, descending to deeper waters as they mature. Some species live over two kilometres below sea level. The body shape of many species changes drastically between growth stages and many young examples could be confused for different species altogether.

Cranchiid squid represent no interest to commercial fisheries. ..."

I wouldn't eat one!!!

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