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Squids
Charity Sonier
Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct
head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms.
Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in
pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles. Squid are
strong swimmers and certain species can 'fly' for
short distances out of the water.
Anatomy
The Vampire squid
At a maximum of one foot in total length, the vampire
squid is no threat to humans. Its body varies in color
between velvety jet-black and pale reddish, depending
on location and lighting conditions. A webbing of skin
connects its eight arms, each lined with rows of fleshy
spines; the inside of this "cloak" is black. Only the
farthest part of the arms have suckers. Its eyes, which
appear red or blue, depending on lighting, are
proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom at
1 inch in diameter
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Class:Cephalopoda
Subclass:Coleoidea
Superorder:Octopodiformes
Order:Vampyromorphida
Suborder:Vampyromorphina
Family:Vampyroteuthidae
Genus:Vampyroteuthis
Species:V. infernalis
Classification
General Information
The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is a
small, deep-sea cephalopod found throughout the
temperate and tropical oceans of the world. Unique
retractile sensory filaments justify the Vampire Squid's
placement in its own order: Vampyromorphida
(formerly Vampyromorpha), which shares similarities
with both squid and octopuses.
Habitat and Adaptions
The Vampire squid is an extreme example of a deep
sea cephalopod. Their hemocyanin binds and
transports oxygen more efficiently than in other
cephalopods, aided by gills with especially large
surface area along with other adaptations, like a
low metabolic rate. This allows them to live
within depths that few other organisms can bear,
known as the “Oxygen minimum zone” 600-900
feet underneath the ocean’s surface.
Behaviour
The vampire Squid is capable of swimming very quickly,
but because of their low metabolic rate they have
stamina issues. Because of this, they have developed
different methods of predator avoidance such as, they
are able tot urn themselves inside out in order to look
much larger, and they have glowing pigments at the end
of each arm distracting from any critical parts of the
body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWAnliNc6wk&featu
re=related
Digestive System
Like all cephalopods, squid have complex digestive
systems. The muscular stomach is found roughly
in the midpoint of the body. From there, the
bolus moves into the caecum for digestion. The
caecum, a long, white organ, is found next to the
ovary or testis. In mature squid, more priority is
given to reproduction such that the stomach and
caecum often shrivel up during the later life
stages. Finally, food goes to the liver (or digestive
gland), found at the bottom end, for absorption.
Solid waste is passed out of the rectum.
Did you know?
It is a unique member of the cephalopod family in
that it shares similarities with both squid and
octopuses. In fact, it was originally and
mistakenly identified as an octopus by
researchers in 1903
Bibliography
http://www.seasky.org/deepsea/vampire-squid.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I
WAnliNc6wk&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire
_squid