10-17-2018, 04:51 PM
Well, the squid hasn't proven itself to be as ornery smart as an octopus. On the other hand, squid are very gregarious animals (unlike solidary octopuses) and their social intelligence appears to be high. They have very sophisticated ways of communicating with each other.
For instance, a bunch of squid can camouflage themselves and maintain that camouflage while communicating with each other with pulses of polarized light -- which they can see but predators and prey can't. Oh, and they manage their camouflage (every part of their body is capable of multiple color changes per second, enabling swift and high-res patterns) despite being color blind.
They also adjust their buoyancy by changing the salt water in their bodies from a sodium chloride base to an ammonium chloride base, which is lighter than salt water, making it easier for them to rise up for night feeding.
Still, I think it's fine to think of squids as fully tricked-out lamborghinis driven by some dumb scrap of kelp.
P.S. Squid have the barest remnant of their ancestral shell inside their elongated mantel. It's like a sliver of flexible cartilage, called a pen, which is used for muscle attachment -- and squid are pretty much all muscle. In fact, squid are like protein bars for predators, which is why they are highly sought after by whales, sharks, seals, etc.
Anyway, the scientific name for this pen is gladius (meaning swordlike, which is its shape). [Gladiator has the same root.] So every time you eat a squid, you're eating a sword. Which begs the question: How could you possibly give up something like that?
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For instance, a bunch of squid can camouflage themselves and maintain that camouflage while communicating with each other with pulses of polarized light -- which they can see but predators and prey can't. Oh, and they manage their camouflage (every part of their body is capable of multiple color changes per second, enabling swift and high-res patterns) despite being color blind.
They also adjust their buoyancy by changing the salt water in their bodies from a sodium chloride base to an ammonium chloride base, which is lighter than salt water, making it easier for them to rise up for night feeding.
Still, I think it's fine to think of squids as fully tricked-out lamborghinis driven by some dumb scrap of kelp.
P.S. Squid have the barest remnant of their ancestral shell inside their elongated mantel. It's like a sliver of flexible cartilage, called a pen, which is used for muscle attachment -- and squid are pretty much all muscle. In fact, squid are like protein bars for predators, which is why they are highly sought after by whales, sharks, seals, etc.
Anyway, the scientific name for this pen is gladius (meaning swordlike, which is its shape). [Gladiator has the same root.] So every time you eat a squid, you're eating a sword. Which begs the question: How could you possibly give up something like that?
.