[News]: Very Large Colossal Squid Caught

Rob Romero;89861 said:
According to the Newsweek article, the 33ft, 954lb. specimen is male. However, I was disappointed to hear Steve O'Shea deride the intelligence potential of Giant and Colossal Squids -especially given the brilliance of their smaller relatives!

Rob
I wouldn't worry too much about that Rob. If it had a brain the size of a football then I would be more comfortable recognising it as a truly brilliant animal. To be honest we do not know what the size and shape of the Mesonychoteuthis brain is (other than the fact the oesophagus will pass through it, rendering it donught-shaped), and we're not about to cut the brain out and weight it on this specimen. I am also aware that I cannot always use brain weight as a proxy for intelligence. However, for Architeuthis to have a brain weighing no more than 20g in a 275kg adult female, I do question whether this effective mega-ganglion is capable of much comprehension.
 
Is there a reason that you think the female is bigger than the male? In both Sepia officinalis and Sepia bandensis the males are bigger than the females. Are squid females bigger than males?
It would make sense since the ovaries are such a large part of the body mass.

Just wondering...
 
Generally in the animal kingdom a female is bigger than a male. In squids sure the large volume that the ovaries take up may account for some but this is generally due to the fact that the need to put out more energy than males, because they need to provide some sort of yolk or the like for reproduction purposes. So a larger body is needed to accompany this extra energy expenditure
 
My little Sepia bandensis laid over 200 grape-sized eggs and she was only 2 inches long, my males are probably over three inches. I think she put more energy into egg producing and laying than the males did into fighting and mating. Maybe she was smaller because most of her food consumption was put into producing eggs.
 
Possibly, not all animals are like this, and I am not that familiar with cuttlefish (hope to get better). Also your Sepia is not in a natural environment so it may not follow this rule if it does in the wild
 

[SIZE=-2]Science News[/SIZE]

It's a Girl: Atlantic mystery squid undergoes scrutiny
[SIZE=-1]Science News - 12 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The fishing boat's captain sent the squid's decomposing body to the Mote Marine Laboratory, headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., where cephalopod specialist ...[/SIZE]


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Colossal Squid Reaches its New Home
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[SIZE=-1]You might remember that last week, I wrote about the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, that had been captured in Antarctica's Ross Sea in early ...[/SIZE]


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[SIZE=-2]TV3 News[/SIZE]
Colossal squid to be officially handed to Te Papa today
[SIZE=-1]TV3 News, New Zealand - 8 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]A Colossal squid caught in Antartic waters last month will be officially handed to Te Papa in Wellington later today. The squid, thought to weigh around 450 ...[/SIZE]


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Scientists ponder colossal defrost
[SIZE=-1]TVNZ, New Zealand - 2 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The biggest Colossal squid ever landed has been officially handed over to New Zealand's national museum, but scientists are at a loss as to exactly how to ...[/SIZE]


More...
 
WhiteKiboko;90248 said:
circulating water? maybe a little formalin thrown in for insurance?

Is it formalin they'll use to preserve it? Anyone know the freezing point of whatever it is they'll use? If it's above about 5C would it work if they just put the whole thing in a temperature contolled vat of preservative and kept the temperature marginally above freezing so that as it thaws the preservative soaks in and does it's job? Or do they need to do the studying before it's soaked in preservative?

Hmmm, given that the problem seems to be that the outside will start to decompose before the inside thawed (I think I saw about 4 odd days to thaw) could decomposition be slowed by altering the atmosphere it's in? I recall seeing a Seafood New Zealand magazine which showed that one NZ company had done a whole lot of work on determining the best mix of gasses for maintaining the shelf life of fish. I think it ended up being a specific mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Alternate right out there idea, how about multiple low level microwave beams which could be moved around on a regular schedule to produce a mobile point of intersection allowing heat to be applied to areas inside the squid without producing too much surface heating (like they use to target radiation treatment for cancer) so that by moving the point of intersection around the whole thing could be thawed at a reasonably even rate. First question (and probably the last :wink: ) How good are microwaves at penetrating ice? I have a vague recollection that the answer is 'not very'.
 
i think it depends on whether they want to take genetic samples... i wonder if a saltwater formalin solution would be any better? my thinking being that the salt would tamper w/ the specific heat of the water, maybe changing how fast the squid melts (bonus points for being closer to the squid's natural element) and the formalin to try and to keep it from decomposing....

hell's bells!

i forgot about :oshea: 's fixing article:

Large Squid Fixing and Preservation Notes

oh, re: formalin:
Formaldehyde - Wikipedia
 
Steve O'Shea;89873 said:
I am also aware that I cannot always use brain weight as a proxy for intelligence.

Many Thanks Steve.

Perhaps next time you could suggest on national media that suggestions on how to fry calamari would be welcome (and give them YOUR email address). Of the 426 suggestions on thawing squid, I particularly like the one that we should thaw it then release it back into the antarctic waters where it will enjoy its freedom......b.t.w. the freezer floor partially collapsed - but I think that was more to do with the shoddy construction method than the 490kg weight.
 
[News]: Scientists flooded with squid ideas - TVNZ


[SIZE=-2]TVNZ[/SIZE]
Scientists flooded with squid ideas
[SIZE=-1]TVNZ, New Zealand - 2 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Te Papa Museum scientists have been inundated with suggestions about how to defrost their newest acquisition, the world's largest squid. ...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Thawing giant squid a massive challenge [SIZE=-1]ABC Online[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Scientists ponder colossal defrost [SIZE=-1]TVNZ[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]all 3 news articles[/SIZE]

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The Meso defrosting problem reminds me of the woolly mammoth defrosting problem: what to do with a 23-ton block of permafrost with preserved mammoth inside? They used hairdryers and worked inside an ice cave. Attached is a PDF which describes the process.

Custom-builders of high-performance gaming computers are wizards at getting heat out of tightly packed boxes, using liquid-coolant pipes and fans. Someone with that kind of knowledge might be in a position to suggest how to get heat in to something in a regulated, gentle fashion. Just a thought.

Cheers,
Clem
 

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