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- Mar 8, 2004
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I was looking at the wikipedia article on giant squids, at
Giant squid - Wikipedia
and found it has a few problems. Wikipedia's whole thing is that they allow, and even encourage, people to edit the articles, but I'm not positive I qualify.
In particular, it says:
It's certainly using "statocyst" incorrectly, and I thought the distribution of ammonia (or ammonium chloride) was just mixed in with muscle, not in any sort of cellular structures, but I'm less sure about that... I didn't see any description of the microscopic distribution in
http://www.tonmo.com/science/public/giantsquidbuoyancy.pdf
Anyway, it might be a good public service for one of the real teuthologists to go over the wikipedia page. Probably adding Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet to the links section would be good, too...
Giant squid - Wikipedia
and found it has a few problems. Wikipedia's whole thing is that they allow, and even encourage, people to edit the articles, but I'm not positive I qualify.
In particular, it says:
One of the more unusual aspects of giant squid (as well as some other species of large squid) is their reliance upon the light weight of ammonia in relation to seawater to maintain neutral buoyancy in their natural environment, as they lack the gas-filled swim bladder that fish use for this function; instead, they use vast numbers of tiny "statocysts" (ammonia-filled cellular structures) throughout their bodies. This makes the giant squid unfit for human consumption, although sperm whales seem to be attracted by its taste.
It's certainly using "statocyst" incorrectly, and I thought the distribution of ammonia (or ammonium chloride) was just mixed in with muscle, not in any sort of cellular structures, but I'm less sure about that... I didn't see any description of the microscopic distribution in
http://www.tonmo.com/science/public/giantsquidbuoyancy.pdf
Anyway, it might be a good public service for one of the real teuthologists to go over the wikipedia page. Probably adding Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet to the links section would be good, too...