Ecology & Zoology

If you've ever wondered just what it looks like to go fishing for Humboldt squid, here's one view-- a video by Philip Friedman, shot off Long Beach: ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 5 2011 - 5:22pm

Peru Lays Down the Squid Law

Humboldt squid have been fished in Peru for years. The government has now decided to make some new regulations, with noble intent: The Government also aims to ensure the rational and sustainable use of the jumbo flying squid, taking into account the analys ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 6 2011 - 6:45pm

Celebrate Cephalopods in Classrooms

Two items of tremendous note today, to wit: The 2011 International Cephalopod Awareness Days begin tomorrow! It's no accident that this date also marks TONMOCON, the fourth biannual gathering of cephalopod enthusiasts. Unfortunately for me, TONMOCON ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 7 2011 - 12:39pm

The Weirdest Octopus

Today's post in honor of the 2011 Cephalopod Awareness Days. October 8th is Octopus Day. There are some weird octopuses out there, I'll grant you. The tiny-but-deadly blue-ringed octopus. The Dumbo octopus with its "ear flaps"--actuall ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 8 2011 - 10:02pm

Happy Squid Day! Have Some Novel.

Today's post in honor of the 2011 Cephalopod Awareness Days. October 10th is Squid Day. It's the happiest day of the year here at Squid A Day! To celebrate (or perhaps it was just a coincidence) I attended Litquake's New Writers Workshop t ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 11 2011 - 12:44am

You're Kraken Me Up

Today's post in honor of the 2011 Cephalopod Awareness Days. October 11th is Myths and Legends Day. And what better way to celebrate than with an account of the newly discovered Triassic Kraken, you know, the one who made a self-portrait with the ve ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 11 2011 - 6:05pm

Thoughts From The Spawn Of The Krakenists

Today's post in honor of the 2011 Cephalopod Awareness Days. October 12th is Fossil Day. I must confess, I'm glad today is the last of the Cephalopod Days. This heady pace is almost more than I can handle! The final day of ICAD is for celebrati ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 12 2011 - 10:33pm

Peru's Mountain Of Humboldt Squid

In an obituary for biologist Robert Clarke published recently in Marine Mammal Science, I read a rather curious passage about this scientist's observations of Humboldt squid: ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 15 2011 - 5:31pm

Return Of The Weirdest Octopus

On October 8th, Octopus Day, I wrote about the incredibly strange Seven-arm Octopus, Haliphron atlanticus. I invoked its tremendous size, irregular arms, habitat flexibility, and peculiarly small body as proof positive of its weirdness. But I didn't p ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Oct 17 2011 - 6:55pm

A Brief Arthropod Diversion

Here at Squid A Day, we are all about the cephalopods. Specifically, the decapod cephalopods, the ones with ten appendages (eight arms and two tentacles). That's my tenuous excuse for veering off in an entirely different phylogenetic direction this ev ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Oct 18 2011 - 12:23am