CHALLENGE

Tintenfisch

Architeuthis
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OK, guys, you asked for it. Here's pic #1 of the Amazing GS Discovery. We challenge you to figure out...

:arrow: What this is, and
:arrow: Why it's significant

Go for it!
 

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Just seen a photo of our favourite kiwi cephers fondling GS tentacles in a Mag here (Called North and South). Some quite entertaining quotes from Steve O on inflicting squid glop and stench on fellow NIWA bods. For that I might even forgive them for not moving to the mainland so's their lab would be within my reach!!!!! (I'm a little allergic to Orkland!!) :lol:

Jean
 
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rrtanton said:
Were-squid, eh? hmmmmmm. Is that catching? 'cause if it is, you might have a few dozen Tonmoers knocking on your door tomorrow looking to borrow some germs... :P

First ya gotta let me bite you:

Ocean Planet: In Search of Giant Squid - Come to Grips with Taningia

Now, take two anglerfish and call me in the morning....

"Be careful what you wish for" -- MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

:twisted:
Tani, Fearsome Flasher of the Dreaded Depths
 
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Oh, the biting's no problem...I think it's the "suddenly on the Giant Squid Menu" thing that I think some of us would be a tad squeamish about. Or do were-squids have supersquid strength to fight off would-be predators? 8)

I suppose you might need some extra deodorant, too...

rusty
 
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Kat: They do indeed make undertentacle deodorant -- that's how Archis mask that telltale ammonia aroma to avoid scientists. Of course, the roll-on device is about the size of a soccer ball.

Rusty: The giant photophores frighten away the Archis, who as Steve-O' can tell you are really big ol' scaredy-squids at heart(s). And if that doesn't work, I morph back into my human form as it looks first thing in the morning, which my husband will confirm is kinda like looking at a Medusa (and I don't mean the jellyfish!).

Jean: Can you upload that magazine photo to the site? Sounds like fun!

Uh, now what was this thread about.... :?:
 
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Yes, and we are still working on identifying everything - the MS is in progress, and we may have some illustrations to post here soon as well. Incidentally - did I mention that when I picked up the film, the developer asked me what they were? Her best guess was a rotting finger. :yuck:
 
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..... and that manuscript will be in draft form in a couple of days, and we'll be posting away to our hearts content. It turns out that there are quite a number of references to cite (more than we had imagined) that deal with diet in Architeuthis. What is most surprising is that the beast has 'eaten' many strange things (the likes of plastic, algae, copepods, stones/pebbles, bottom-dwelling crayfish, prawns, sea squirts, mussels .... it goes on). However, despite these unusual items, there is some continuity in gut content composition; common to many records is the presence (prevalence) of squid and fish in the gut.

..... and when we have this out of the way, and the squid beaks from whale stomachs, we'll share with you something even more sensational! Ja, some wicked things have been found down this neck of the woods lately.
Cheers
O
 
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Just a wee note; we'll post more soon (but we cannot post the article online, not yet anyway, sorry). It's ~ 10 pages long and ready for submission now. Just thought you might find part of the conclusion interesting.

Accidental self-ingestion, autophagy or cannibalism
We believe it extremely unlikely that Architeuthis would accidentally bite off and eat its entire tentacle club while feeding. No tentacle or tentacle club retained with any of more than 100 carcasses examined by the authors has manifested any sign of self-inflicted damage. Moreover, this report is the first confirmed incidence of Architeuthis remains within the digestive tract of the species, and if either accidental self ingestion or autophagy occurred, even rarely, then we believe that we would have observed remains more frequently in gut contents, or, alternatively, earlier authors would have identified them and accordingly remarked on their occurrence (although it is quite possible that the large unidentified suckers reported by Zeidler & Gowlett-Holmes (1996) are referable to Architeuthis). Therefore, although we cannot entirely discount either accidental self-ingestion or autophagy, we lean toward the possibility of ingestion in the aftermath of inter-architeuthid aggression or mating.

Aldrich (1991: 474) describes a beached Architeuthis (specimen # 15) as unique amongst those encountered by him in that it clearly showed evidence of having been engaged in battle with what apparently was another cephalopod. This he based on evidence of sucker scars ranging from 2.7 to 4 mm in diameter on some arms, in addition to the ends of incomplete arms being serrated in a manner inconsistent with that associated with beaching. Aldrich (ibid: 475) attributes this damage to combat with another architeuthid. We believe that our present contribution, wherein the large tentacular sucker rings of Architeuthis are reported from the stomach caecal contents, and that of Zeidler & Gowlett-Holmes, wherein large unidentifiable suckers were recovered from the stomach caecum, equally support Aldrich’s contention that damage through combat with other architeuthids does occur.

References
Aldrich, F.A. 1991. Some aspects of the systematics and biology of squid of the genus Architeuthis based on a study of specimens from Newfoundland waters. Bulletin of Marine Science, 49(1–2): 457–481.

Zeidler, W., & Gowlett-Holmes, K.L. 1996. A specimen of giant squid, Architeuthis sp., from south Australian waters. Records of the South Australian Museum, 29(1): 85–91.

........
Cheers
Us
 
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Fascinating stuff, thanks for posting this.

Would the damage inflicted on the other (Aldrich's) Architeuthis necessarily have to be through combat, though? Could the damage have been caused through a particularly vigorous mating ritual perhaps, do you think?

Just a thought.
 
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And I wonder how easily an Architeuthis can recover from having one of their two tentacle clubs bitten off, or would this be likely to be a fatal injury? i.e., does Architeuthis entirely rely on its clubs for feeding? Do they "grow back" as in an octopus arm?

One more question -- can someone summarize here what we *do* know about the Architeuthis mating procedure? As I recall, we have very little knowledge on this.
 
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Howdo Tony. Can't keep a secret from you ay! There's actually a paper on this very thing:

Aldrich, F.A.; Aldrich, M.M. 1968. On regeneration of the tentacular arm of the giant squid Architeuthis dux Steenstrup (Decapoda: Architeuthidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 46: 845-847.

The loss of at least part of the tentacle club is not likely to be fatal; they can regenerate.

Phil, you can't ask questions like that online! They're not appropriate :wink: :lol: Sure it's possible; we think it likely in fact.
Cheers
O
 
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Well, the gut contents MS is out of our hands for the moment. Thought you guys might like to see a clearer representation of the fragments and Mystery Rings we found in there, so here are our illustrations...

download.php
 
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Thanks T!

Also, FYI for everyone: a few posts back I asked for a summary of what we know about Architeuthis reproduction... Dr. O'Shea has provided a fascinating summary complete with anatomical photos which I will be posting soon; tonight, I hope... Tremendous thanks to Steve and T for their efforts here!
 
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