Ecology & Zoology

The Jaffe Laboratory at UC San Diego posted some lovely videos of market squid mating aggregations off La Jolla in Southern California. Check them out here. The first one is just classic: murky green water, and a seemingly endless field of squid mating, sp ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Dec 26 2011 - 2:31pm

Something Very Silly; Do Squid Eat Crabs Really?

Casual games with squid in them are the new hotness. No, I'm totally serious. There was Halloween Squid, Squibble, Squids, and now, Squid Drop: What a delightful excuse to talk about squid science! Now, where can I possibly find science in this app? A ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 4 2012 - 1:54pm

Spineless Celebration for the New Year!

The first Circus of the Spineless of 2012 is up at Wild About Ants! Check it out for some very doable new year resolution suggestions. (Like "get to know tiny spiders"--we can all do with a little more arachnomania, can't we?) There's a ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jan 3 2012 - 1:41am

New Yeti Crab, Starfish, Barnacles: A 'Lost World' Found In Antarctica

In the East Scotia Ridge deep beneath the Southern Ocean, hydrothermal vents including 'black smokers' reaching temperatures of up to 382 degrees Celsius have created a unique environment that lacks sunlight, but is rich in certain chemicals. It ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 3 2012 - 9:09pm

Loose Lipids Don't Sink Squids

Squid Drop is an iPhone game* based on the premise that squid are negatively buoyant. Any serious iGamers must ask themselves: is it true? Barring the application of any external forces, would a squid sink to the depths of the sea? Never fear, the cephalo ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 6 2012 - 10:46am

Exploding toads and other matters

For the last two days we have had our BBC television naturalist Chris Packham presenting us with “Nature’s Weirdest Events”. Here are my three favourites from this session. ...

Blog Post - Robert H Olley - Jan 5 2012 - 2:32pm

Your Daily Butterfish Forecast

Last March I posted about a little problem with the east cost longfin squid fishery: The nets that fishermen use to catch longfin squid also ensnare butterfish. And butterfish populations are very low. In fact, in 2004 a stock assessment workshop determine ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jan 7 2012 - 8:57pm

Spirula "Spines," Spread, And Spawnlings

One of the more unusual cephalopods of my acquaintance (and I do not say this lightly) is the ram's horn squid, Spirula spirula. The species is named for its beautifully coiled internal shell, which is all most people (including me) have ever seen of ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 11 2012 - 11:38pm

Argentina And Britain Face Off Over Squid

A long time ago, in an ocean far, far away... I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! I just couldn't resist. But of course it's not really true. Argentina and the British-owned Falkland Islands have been fighting over their squid resources since ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 12 2012 - 12:07pm

Beyonce Gets A Science Award: A Horse Fly Named After Her

A previously unnamed species of horse fly has been named in honor of American pop singer Beyoncé Knowles. Beyoncé just had a baby but this horse fly business is probably the best gift of all. Well, maybe not, the baby might be more important to her, sinc ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 14 2012 - 10:01pm