Colossal Squid Necropsy

[Clem]

involuntary? you really think so?...what's leading you to this conclusion?

Hi Ubiquity,

Not a conclusion, but a question. There's another cranch squid, Cranchia scabra, that's been documented assuming the spherical configuration when threatened (a collected juvenile in an aquarium): Tolweb has the goods here. Involuntary was the wrong word for me to use, secondary may be more like it, in that the primary defensive response might be ballooning, and the secondary response the release of ink...which, because the squid has become a tight ball, has no outlet. Again, this isn't a conclusion, but I wonder if the self-inking-while-ballooned behavior might represent the occasional pile-up of defensive responses that, while doing no harm, isn't directly beneficial.

Cheers,
Clem

 

[ubiquity]

perhaps there's a benefit we're overlooking?
i would be inclined to believe that there is
purpose in behavior even if we fail to see it.

given time we may find some very real reason
for it,who knows?

 

[tonmo]

Hi Ubiquity. We put a paper out on this very thing in 2004 (NZ Journal of Zoology I recall). There's a version of it online here, although I do note some corruption in some of the characters (if you want a pdf of the paper just pm me).

These character issues have been fixed! Inspecting other articles as well. Thanks for the heads-up!