Welcome

[joel_ang]

to TONMO.com Pieces!!

Glad you like it here If you have any questions feel free to ask and we'll be glad to help.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

The lure of Architeuthis! Welcome indeed.

 

[jesska]

well, let me start off by saying that i am new here. I just watched the documentary on the giant squid and it sparked my interest... i got right on the web to learn more. Im a student currently, and heading off to college in a few months. I want to do something along the lines of what you are accomplishing and i find your work facinating. My favorite course right now is ap biology, and i want to pursue some sort of marine biology in college. Zoology facinates me, and i love learning about new and exciting things in the world of biology! Keep up the good work, you are an inspiration!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

there Jesska. A tremendous number of people are involved in these docos; if they don't all do their job then the whole thing can come crashing down (and that doesn't look good, especially on telly). I didn't do my job - they all died after we caught them; now I have to make good, and am busting my foofoo valve to ensure that the next time we go out there are no tears - only happy squid. We're almost there!

 

[jesska]

will there be another documentary, do you think, when you do get it right? Im so engrossed in this topic now... its been on my mind all day!

also... you dont give yourself enough credit! You did what no one else has done before!!!! you were able to keep deep sea squid alive longer than anyone else, and even though you werent able to achieve the goal of keeping the giant squid larva alive, just being able to do what you have done was worth it in my mind. Biology is the constantly changing, and we are constantly learning more and more, you just helped us along a little bit... So i keep my original salute: keep up the good work!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Thanks; I've beaten myself up for years over that last one.

Another doco? I'm not prepared to go out and do this all over again if I'm not sure that I can keep them alive. It has taken many years to build the confidence levels back up again, and now that I'm able to keep these things alive for quite a while I suppose I should embark on yet another fundraising exercise so that we can do it. Yes, Discovery Channel would like to do it again, but we've got to be able to provide something quite different - the last thing that people want to see is a repeated exercise.

If I do galavant off on something like this (and am successful in raising the NZ 1.2 million required to do it), then I'd probably go for both the adult and juvenile. I'd not use submersibles, but would use an ROV (and this requires a rather large and expensive ship).

I'm just about to embark on another substantial undertaking, but people will not see this televised for a couple of years (the production time will be that long, given a number of things we're proposing to do). It will be one of the most insanely interesting things I've ever done; it is only distantly related to squid, but will knock your socks off when it becomes public domain (and people will hear about it (and probably smell it) before it's televised for sure).

 

[jesska]

oooo... the anticipation! Sounds very interesting indeed. How long will this expedition last? Any details? sorry if im intruding... just curious i guess.

 

[Hans Akkerman]

I have been a lurker on this forum for about a year now, but i've finally decided to post something.

I study archaeology at the university of Leiden and have been interested in cephs for as long as I can remember.

I have a question concerning the beaks.
As an archaeologist I appreciate the difficulty in properly identifying species/cultures from small amounts of physical evidence.
I would like to know, how beaks are characteristically different.
How, for example, you can tell if a beak belongs to a collossal or a giant squid.

Also, are drawings of beaks made and if so, where could I find them?

Lastly, a question about the giant/colossal squid fact sheet:
There, it is stated that a comparison study of the beaks would take place to determine once and for all, if the colossal squid really is larger than the giant squid.

I thank you for your time

 

[Tintenfisch]

Hi, Hans.

Glad you're here! In answer to your beak questions... here's a page from the Tree of Life site that highlights the features used in identifying/characterizing ceph beaks: Cephalopod Beak Terminology. The other major reference that deals with beaks, and much more comprehensively, is what's fondly known as 'The Beak Book':

Clarke M.R. 1986. A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Clarendon Press, Oxford. : pp.273

And a couple others that might be of interest, or more readily available... Clarke did a lot of work on ceph beaks, especially from whale gut contents.

Clarke, M. 1962. The identification of cephalopod “beaks” and the relationship between beak size and total body weight. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 8(10): 422–480, pls 13–22.

Clarke M.R. 1962. Significance of cephalopod beaks. Nature. 193 (4815) : pp.560-561

Clarke, M. 1965. “Growth rings” in the beaks of the squid Moroteuthis ingens (Oegopsida: Onychoteuthidae). Malacologia 3: 287–307.

Hope they help!

 

[Hans Akkerman]

Thanks for the info!

My next question concerns Mesonychoteuthis size.

Has the beak-size comparison study taken place yet?
If it has, can we now say for certain wether or not Mesonychoteuthis is larger than Architeuthis?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Hans, this is something that Kat & I (in conjunction with George Jackson) are looking at right now (mainly Kat). It shouldn't be too far off - just have to get a week-or-so out of the way first, before it's polished and ready to go.

 

[ragillum]

Steve,
I am interested in the ability of squid to regrow severed arms or tentacles in regard to the giant or collosal squid sizes. Help.

Thanks,
Robert Gillum

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Hi Robert. They can certainly regenerate lost 'parts' of limbs (as in parts of arms or tentacles), and can almost certainly regrow an entire limb (intuitively), but I cannot prove the latter (as in entire limb regrowth, if severed at the base). I'd have to look at a number of animals and see if there was any obvious disparity in arm or tentacle lengths (you often see regeneration of the tips).

 

[chrono_war01]

so, what did the giants do to lose their arm tips? Lucky escapee from the jaws of a hungry sperm whale? Large sharks? Or even nipped off by small fish?

 

[Henk-Jan]

Hi Robert and Steve,

Just to add some info on regeneration. I recently came across a specimen of Octopoteuthis sicula. I was amazed that all arms except for two arms were regenerated (very small arms of 10 mm). Interestingly the distal photophores of the arms had also regenerated.

Cheers Henk-Jan