
Giant Octopus 40
texchanchan writes "Yahoo reports that the first adult specimen, dead unfortunately, of a very large octopus species has been brought in by fishermen. '[A] very big octopus, the size of a fully mature male giant squid,' says a marine biologist. It is described as 'extremely deep... extremely large...'"
first (Score:1)
ever see that old photo... (Score:1)
Jules Verne (Score:1)
Screw cock-fights, now that we know such creatures exist, who wouldn't pay to see them go at it?
Octopuses? (Score:1)
But it'd make a hell of a nice first course [alastra.com]
Re:Octopuses? (Score:1)
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts
Re:Octopuses? (Score:1)
For some odd reason, people use the octopi bastard version enough that its gotten in dictionaries.
Re:Octopuses? (Score:1, Informative)
I refer you to the authoritative internet source on all things octopus, squid, and cuttlefish related: Dr. Wood's "The Cephalopod Page" specifically: http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/TCP/faq/TCPfaq2b.cfm? ID=66 [utmb.edu]
Wow... (Score:1)
Just goes to show how little we truly know about what lives in the ocean. I'll be interested to see what their analysis is after they examine it.
Now that I've got a huge octopus (Score:3, Funny)
Avoid giving pointless motivational speeches. (Score:2)
Re:Now that I've got a huge octopus (Score:2, Informative)
http://westwood.ea.com/games/ccuniverse/redaler
"These leviathans are a product of Soviet research teams who captured giant squids from their natural habitat and trained them to be a force of terror in the Red navy. One of the few melee units in the Red Alert 2 arsenal, the Giant Squid is also one of the most powerful naval units, able to mangle, dismantle and destroy enemy ships by crushing it with its powerful tentacles. Since it's invisible to enemy radar, the Giant Squid is perfect for sneak attacks against powerful enemy pieces such as Destroyers or Carriers -- send it with support units to guard against counters such as Dolphins, and your Giant Squids will repay your investment many times over."
Re:Now that I've got a huge octopus (Score:2)
If the empire had actually spent the money to get quality stormtroopers the universe would still be ruled by the empire!
Deep and Large (Score:2, Funny)
Reminds me of my prom date! Ah.. memories better left at the bottom of the ocean..
Re:Deep and Large (Score:1)
Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
I laughed, I cried, I ate a box of Fig Newtons. It was great.
Re:Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
a bugg
Re:Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
Re:Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
Re:Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
Re:Steve O'Shea's Discovery Channel Special RULES! (Score:1)
Archeteuthis.
Can't imagine why I'd know that...
CNN (Score:2, Funny)
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn! (Score:4, Funny)
I was beginning to lose hope.
Re:Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn! (Score:3, Funny)
I got a shotgun and a spell book! hell, I might even have some sanity points left....
Re:Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn! (Score:2)
--
Evan
Oh, it's a big octopus..... (Score:1)
Differences between Squid and Octopus? (Score:1)
Re:Differences between Squid and Octopus? (Score:3, Informative)
Squid and octopi come from the same branch of the tree as oysters, snails, and chitons, meaning that they're mushy, non-segmented (think millipede or vertebrae), have a shell, and taste yummy. Of all the molluscs, squid and octopi are most closely related to each other, but there are several key differences.
In squid, the shell is reduced to a beak and a thin, flexible support called the pen. The pen lets them have that long, tubular body. Octopi have a beak, but no pen, making them pretty mushy (and able to fit through really small holes).
For the most part, squid live in the water column and hunt and octopi on the bottom and scavenge. (You could probably call picking on clams hunting, but really...). Squid are fast; octopi slow.
Here's a key difference if you want to keep one behind glass. Squid have to keep moving. Put them in a tank and they die quickly. You can keep an octopus for years, just throw it a raw crab once in a while. Because of this, we are able to find out that many octopus species are intelligent. Some squid may be just as smart (they haven't caught a live Architeuthes yet, so they're smarter than tuna!), but we have no way of knowing because we can't really do tests on them.
Both are cephlapods, meaning they have their feet on their heads. Octopi have eight arms, more or less identical. Squid have eight stubby arms and two long ones with grabby pad on the end, the tentacles. Inside, they're pretty much the same: gut, ink sac...nothing you really want to eat.
There you have it, the highlights, at least. God, I'm a nerd.
Re:Differences between Squid and Octopus? (Score:1)
13 feet? (Score:2)
13 feet? That barely registers on my giganto-meter. 13 meters, maybe. 13 feet, nah!
Re:13 feet? (Score:2)
Indeed. This is like an article saying, "Scientists today captured a GIANT ANT. The feisty Formicidae measured over ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH LONG."
Now, that would be pretty giant by ant standards, but when I think of giant ants, I want cars being crushed and houses being levelled.
It's hard to believe that this made CNN.
Re:13 feet? (Score:2)
Maybe, but note this line in the BBC article that somebody mentioned previously:
"He has provisionally identified the sub-mature female as being Haliphron atlanticus."This one was still a kid. Wonder how big Ma and Pa Octopus were?....
Also at the BBC (Score:2, Informative)
Aha! (Score:1)
Most people thought it was a just giant squid, too long decayed, but some scientists took tissue samples and preserved them in alcohol.
Many years later, once microscope technology had improved, the sample was re-examined, and they discovered that it was HUMAN FLESH!!!!!
Oops. I mean, they discovered that it was octopus tissue.
So it turns out that sometimes, these wierd unexplained tales aren't quite so implausible after all.
Now excuse me. I need to sign up for anal probe insurance.
Frightening (Score:1)
The frightening thing is that we've been (people have been) fine-net trolling those depths and deeper, cleaning out species we know little about in an environment we know less about.
Um, I'll have the orange roughy please, extra tartar sauce.
I thought the largest was 32ft? (Score:3, Interesting)
taken from http://7thfloormedia.com/projects/safari/newslett