Freshwater Squid

[Crazy Kary]

I am an avid bass fisherman and have been doing it all of my life. On a recent trip near the Mississippi River I looked down in the water and saw what appeared to be 2 squid gliding by the boat. I did not know what to think. The whole way back to the landing I could not stop thinking about it. When I got home, I googled and found an article about a freshwater squid festival in Florida. When I read it, I got chills down my spine because the squid they made reference to was called a mayfly squid. One of the squid changed colors just like the article said. The reason I registered as Crazy Kary is because I called the city of Sebring, Florida and spoke with a woman there who went on to tell me there is no such festival, yet what the article describes is exactly what I saw. I have called the wildlife and fisheries and they are doing research on this as we speak. I don't know what to think, but, I know my eyes did not decieve me.

 

[Animal Mother]

There's been some discussion here... Freshwater squid?

Welcome to TONMO.

 

[monty]

I am an avid bass fisherman and have been doing it all of my life. On a recent trip near the Mississippi River I looked down in the water and saw what appeared to be 2 squid gliding by the boat. I did not know what to think. The whole way back to the landing I could not stop thinking about it. When I got home, I googled and found an article about a freshwater squid festival in Florida. When I read it, I got chills down my spine because the squid they made reference to was called a mayfly squid. One of the squid changed colors just like the article said. The reason I registered as Crazy Kary is because I called the city of Sebring, Florida and spoke with a woman there who went on to tell me there is no such festival, yet what the article describes is exactly what I saw. I have called the wildlife and fisheries and they are doing research on this as we speak. I don't know what to think, but, I know my eyes did not decieve me.

to TONMO!

The "freshwater squid festival" article is, in fact, a joke (much like the pacific northwest tree octopus) and there are no known freshwater species of cephalopods. It's very unlikely that you saw a cephalopods in the Mississippi unless you were in the delta where there's some salinity from seawater, and even there it would be hard to believe. Which doesn't mean I agree that you're crazy, just that I suspect that you were fooled by some other critter pretending to be squids.

We're generally happy to discuss this sort of stuff, although you should expect that if you say "I insist it had to be squids" it is likely to lead to the "in the absence of evidence, you must be mistaken, and it can't be proven" view. If you can go find them again with a camera or a net, I'm sure many of us are in the "I want to believe" camp, but I think the animal life in the Mississippi is pretty well documented, so I'd be even more shocked to see freshwater squids show up there than somewhere in the deepest darkest jungles of Madagascar or somewhere less explored. But I don't expect it there, either.

Skepticism aside, though, it's fun to try to guess what you did see, although I'm not coming up with any ideas yet.

 

[cthulhu77]

Threadfin shad are squid mimics during a point in their lives, prior to laying eggs. If viewed from above, they might be mistaken easily for loligo.

 

[Crazy Kary]

Thank you for replying

Once again I claim to know nothing about squid. I'm thankful for the answers I got to my post. The only other comment that makes sense pertaining to what I saw is the threadfin shad doing some some sort of mating ritual. The backwaters where I fish have an abundance of these shad. The main times I see these shad is when bass are schooling on them so obvioulsy the only ritual they would be practicing then is escape. The thing that still bothers me is how close that fictional article sounded (including where these creatures would be found and the surrounding habitat cypress trees, crayfish, polluted waters). It very well could have been shad, but I still believe this should be investigated further because I knew nothing about this fictional article until after I had that experience. To anyone who is interested, there is documented proof of a bull shark being caught in a town called Simmesport, Louisiana some 2 years ago. From a North/South standpoint, that is as North as where I am fishing, just on the other side of the Mississippi River. If that guy wouldn't have caught that shark, no one would believe it could have gotten there. Ironically, the only other country to have documented bull sharks in freshwater is Brazil (in the Amazon). At least the only other country I know of.

 

[esquid]

Responding to the post made on the Freshwater squid? thread in ceph physiology.

The writer(s) of the fictional article look like they did a lot of research on the history of Florida. So, I would guess that they probably did research to find out about freshwater squid-like things and based their descriptions on them. Which is why their descriptions would match with what you saw.

 

[monty]

I copied the post from the other thread here, just to maintain continuity...

 

[OB]

Once again I claim to know nothing about squid. I'm thankful for the answers I got to my post. The only other comment that makes sense pertaining to what I saw is the threadfin shad doing some some sort of mating ritual. The backwaters where I fish have an abundance of these shad. The main times I see these shad is when bass are schooling on them so obvioulsy the only ritual they would be practicing then is escape. The thing that still bothers me is how close that fictional article sounded (including where these creatures would be found and the surrounding habitat cypress trees, crayfish, polluted waters). It very well could have been shad, but I still believe this should be investigated further because I knew nothing about this fictional article until after I had that experience. To anyone who is interested, there is documented proof of a bull shark being caught in a town called Simmesport, Louisiana some 2 years ago. From a North/South standpoint, that is as North as where I am fishing, just on the other side of the Mississippi River. If that guy wouldn't have caught that shark, no one would believe it could have gotten there. Ironically, the only other country to have documented bull sharks in freshwater is Brazil (in the Amazon). At least the only other country I know of.

And the Zambezi river, and lake Nicaragua, bull sharks also swim up the Ganges, they are well known for adapting to brackish or sweet water conditions. Cephalopods are not.

 

[bigGdelta]

bull sharks have been caught as far north as Illinois http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sharks/FS_bullshark.htm

 

[tonmo]

closure...!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327249842628927490

 

[Luv2farm]

closure...!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327249842628927490

I have some evidence that supports you saw fresh water squid in the Mississippi. My evidence was found in a tributary connected to it. From my pics you can cipher how a couple of birds were taken by surprise when near the waterline onshore. You’re not crazy. What I discovered when happening to see the tentacle imprints is much crazier indeed. Everyone knows the Smithsonian has a secret agenda hiding worldly truths from us, right?

 

[Luv2farm]

I have some evidence that supports you saw fresh water squid in the Mississippi. My evidence was found in a tributary connected to it. From my pics you can cipher how a couple of birds were taken by surprise when near the waterline onshore. You’re not crazy. What I discovered when happening to see the tentacle imprints is much crazier indeed. Everyone knows the Smithsonian has a secret agenda hiding worldly truths from us, right?

I have many more pics and videos too. You are welcome to have copies of everything I have if it helps you feel more validated. I note, someone said squid are not as well adapted as bull sharks which have been found as far north as Illinois. The pics geographically have that bull shark beat. In a river with water only 1-10 ft deep.