This may be to save energy or escape from predators. They launch themselves into the air, fan out their tentacles like a sail, and fly above the surface for up to 164 feet. Some species can build up enough speed to become airborne. They fill their mantle with water through small openings in their head, then eject the water through a funnel called the siphon, which moves to adjust direction. Paternal care among cephalopods is rare so scientists were surprised to find that male bigfin reef squid help choose homes for their mates. After copulation males stay close to the female until she lays her eggs to prevent others mating with her, a behavior called mate guarding. Squid have short life spans and usually die soon after mating, at around one year old.
Surrounding the mouth are two long tentacles with suckers at the tips that the animal uses to grab prey and eight sucker-lined arms that it uses to hold its meal while it eats. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Ī squid’s mouth-found at the base of the mantle- has a hard parrot-like beak for killing and eating prey, which include fish, crustaceans, and other squid. This stiff backbone-like structure supports the mantle and gives muscles something to attach to so the squid can keep its shape. Unlike an octopus, which has no skeleton, squid have an internal shell called a gladius, or pen. Like octopus and cuttlefish, squid are a type of cephalopod, Greek for “head foot.” Behind the animal’s head is a soft, elongated mantle: a muscular space containing its organs. However, while the oldest known example of a squid-like creature attacking prey dates back nearly 200 million years, squid are not known to hunt humans, or sink ships. Squid also come in all sizes: from pygmy squid that are the size of a pinky fingernail to giant squid which may reach as many as 59 feet long-which is perhaps why this gigantic beast inspired the legend of the Kraken. While some squid live in shallow waters, the deepest recording of a bigfin squid was a staggering three miles below the surface. The more than 300 species of squid are found in every ocean, where they can live alone or in schools. But far from brutes that terrorize humans, these masters of deception rely on their wiles to survive, and their ingenious behaviors have pushed forward futuristic innovations like intelligent camouflage and self-healing robots. Squid have been around for millions of years, and inspired legends of terrifying ship-devouring sea monsters.
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