Old-New Mesonychoteuthis Specimen?

[Clem]

Hi Folks,

Jean brought Imagequest3D.com's great photo library to everyone's attention in a Journals & Photos thread; there are beautiful cephalopod shots to look at, most ones I hadn't seen before. Two squid pics credited to Peter Herring (with whom ob seems to be familiar) REALLY got my attention though. They're titled "Antarctic Cranch Squid," and show what looks to be a subadult Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. Go to the link below, the two shots are in the middle of the page.

Stealthy Mesonychoteuthis Photos (click here)

I say "stealthy" because these shots don't pop up in image searches for Meso; they do pop up if you're looking for Antarctic squid. Besides, I'd never seen these shots or heard of this specimen before, and I spend a lot of time looking for this stuff. Peter Herring's photos are copyright 2002, as most of his Imagequest shots are, so we've no date of capture for the moment. And there's a distorting, honking-big Imagequest logo, stamped in the middle of each viewable shot, which falls right atop the Meso's brachial crown! Still, lots to see. Right, ob?

Cheers,
Clem

 

[tonmo]

Nice catch Clem, I hadn't seen these either. The watermark is indeed annoying but looks like a nice one / in pretty good shape. I can't understand that blue discoloration and there seems to be a "puddle" near the fins of the same color, but it looks weird... i.e., unnatural.

 

[tonmo]

You can really see both eyes nicely in the 2nd pic!

Would this be a juvenile?

 

[Clem]

I can't understand that blue discoloration and there seems to be a "puddle" near the fins of the same color, but it looks weird... i.e., unnatural.

Hi Tony,

Yeah, it threw me too. The interior lining of subadult Mesonychoteuthis mantle is black, a finding of Dr. Steve's colossal squid necroscopy of 2003. Depending on how translucent the mantle is, maybe that blue cast is an artifact of the black interior? Dunno about the tail. Hey, is that a measuring rule of some kind next to the mantle?

Clem

Edit:Tony, I can't tell if those are well-preserved eyes or not. They might very well be (oh please let them be) but the shapes also roughly correlate with curves and corners of the Imagesquest stamp, so I just can't be sure.

 

[Argonautautidae]

The second of the two photos appears on page 252 of "Monsters of the Sea" by Richard Ellis. No additional information is given.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

That's a small but very nice one alright! Scaling things from the boots in the frst of the two images I'd say that plastic rule was either 30 or 40cm long.

That watermark is a pain, but I'd say they do look like jolly nice, very large googly eyes!

 

[Argonautautidae]

Ellis states the ruler is 18" long.

 

[Clem]

Thanks, Argonautidae! Good finds. Wonder if the 18" ruler means that the boat (looks like the pics were taken shipboard) was crewed by metric holdouts.

 

[tonmo]

Darn, I just realize I don't know where my copy of Monsters of the Sea is!

FWIW I've enlarged the image and highlighted the two eyes.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

... I'm actually wondering if this is a specimen that we have in the office, which is about this size (but doesn't look anything like this anymore!).

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Click here and you'll see some very interesting photos recently taken of a live Mesonychoteuthis. We're not sure if this specimen was saved/retained; it doesn't appear so.

 

[Clem]

Click here and you'll see some very interesting photos recently taken of a live Mesonychoteuthis. We're not sure if this specimen was saved/retained; it doesn't appear so.

...Steve, those shots are spectacular. So's your sense for understatement. Holy Crap!Now I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that in the third pic I can see an eye and the siphon. Zoom in!

Wow.

 

[erich orser]

I'm in agreement with you on that one, Clem!

 

[Phil]

Just a thought, but perhaps some kind volunteer would like to try to contact the poster of those images to try and obtain some larger versions for us?

 

[Clem]

Done, Phil: I'm now registered at the site and sent the man a PM. Lock fingers in crossed formation.

Clem