You may recall last week I wrote a post about a 10m (33ft) long Colossal Squid weighing almost 500 kg (1,100lb) that was found in Antarctic waters. The squid was kept frozen by fisherman until the ship came home to New Zealand.
And now scientists are pondering how to thaw out the squid evenly. Zoologist, Steve O'Shea of the of Auckland University of Technology, said it could take days for the creature to defrost at room temperature - meaning that the outer flesh could rot by the time the centre thaws. So one option is an industrial-sized microwave oven that could be used to defrost the animal evenly before it is embalmed. Scientists and curators at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa would like to preserve the amazing specimen for detailed study and display.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you Steve, you know what happens when you radiate animals: they grow gigantic and attack the city!
Sorry, my blog has been a bit squid-heavy as of late but they are interesting creatures and this one definitely deserves a mention:
Vital Statistics:
Weight: 495kg (1,090lb)
Length: 10m (33ft)
Commonly: Colossal Squid
Scientifically: Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni
New Home: Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum
This amazing animal was caught last month by fishermen in Antarctica's Ross Sea. It is now on ice, awaiting examination and preparation for its permanent display in New Zealand's national museum. Once un-frozen, the creature will be embalmed and then preserved in a natural position.
The Colossal Squid was first recorded in 1925 after two tentacles were recovered from a sperm whale's stomach. Since then, only a handful of colossal squid have ever been sighted because they live very deep in the ocean. Two others were found in the Ross Sea, and one turned up near South Georgia in 2005.
Image from BBC website.
Its deep velvety black colour, huge red eyes and a webbing of skin connecting eight arms earned this animal the name Vampyroteuthis infernalis, which literally translated means ‘Vampire squid from hell’. It is a small, deep-sea animal, neither an octopus or a squid but a relative and phylogenetic relic or living fossil first described in 1903 by Carl Chun.
The vampire squid is an extremophile, living at depths from 600-900 meters (2,000-3,000 feet). Sunlight does not penetrate the darkness here, pressure is high and oxygen saturation is 3%. But the vampire squid is so beautifully adapted to its environment it manages to do more then just eke out a living, it thrives.
In order to cope with life in the suffocating oceanic, vampire squids have developed several radical adaptations. They have a very low rate of metabolism and instead of using haemoglobin to transport oxygen in their blood they use the more efficient compound haemocyanin, which colours their blood blue.
The vampire squid is covered in light-producing photophores over which the animal has great control. It is capable of producing disorienting flashes of light and can finely tune the size of the photophores as well as the intensity and frequency of flashes. If threatened, instead of ink, the vampire squid ejects a sticky cloud of bioluminescent mucus from the tips of its arms. This luminous barrage, which can last several minutes dazes predators and allows the animal to escape.
The Vampire squid is the soul extant member of the cephalopod order Vampyromorphida, which shares similarities with both squid and octopuses. Its relationships can be explored further on the Tree of Life website. Like many other deep sea animals it has no IUCN status as not enough is known about it to determine if it is a threatened species.
You may recall last week I wrote a post about a 10m (33ft) long Colossal Squid weighing almost 500 kg (1,100lb) that was found in Antarctic waters. The squid was kept frozen by fisherman until the ship came home to New Zealand.
