ZPi Cephalopod News
ZPi Blog Cephalopod Topic
- 2019-02-25 Tree Octopus Mural In Spokane
- 2019-02-24 Devon Hedge Octopus
- 2019-02-23 "Drom Lunarius": Tree Octopi, Pyramid Eye, & Camels
- 2016-08-26 Danger: Octobot
- 2015-08-10 Les Pieuvres de Paris
- 2015-06-29 Congolese Brain-Sucking Octopus
- More entries about (and sometimes by) cephalopods...
Special Reports
- 2007-02-22 (UPDATED 2007-03-24) Larger Colossal Squid Caught
- New Zealand fishermen in the Ross Sea have caught a colossal squid weighing an estimated 495kg. Click link for collected factoids.
Older Special Reports:
- 2003-07-01 (UPDATED 2003-07-11) Chilean Blob: Not A Cephalopod
- A 12 meter long blob was found on a beach in Chile. It was suspected of being a giant octopus. Turned out to be decayed whale blubber.
- 2003-04-01 (UPDATED 2003-05-24) Colossal Squid Caught
- Fishermen near Antarctica have caught a rare, virtually intact specimen of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (or "colossal squid") -- a very large, very aggressive squid with scores of razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles. Includes article round-up, photos and email from Steve O'Shea.
Recent Headlines
- 2019-03-19 Scientists Discover What's Controlling Chameleon-Like Abilities In Squid (UChicago News)
- A paradigm-shifting discovery in how specialized organs in squid skin, called chromatophores, contribute to their color and pattern switching feat via an elegant interplay of pigmentary action and structural coloration.
- 2019-03-12 This Octopus's Dreams (Maybe) Were Written All Over Its Body (Live Science)
- Octopuses are known for their astonishing ability to rapidly shift their skin color and texture, to hide from predators, to sneak up on prey and to communicate with each other. But what exactly is going on when octopuses change color in their sleep? (Video)
- 2019-02-23 Paper Nautilus, Octopus Of The Open Sea (JSTOR)
- Paper nautilus is actually the name for the shell of female Argonautidae. This family of small octopuses lives in the pelagic (open ocean) zone rather than near the seafloor like most octopuses. They are unrelated to the better-known chambered nautilus.
- 2019-02-21 Squid Teeth Could Help Make Bioplastics & Self-Repairing Clothes (New Scientist)
- Squid have tough, serrated suckers at the end of their tentacles known as squid ring teeth (SRT). A protein in SRTs can be turned into fibres and films for making tough, flexible and biodegradable plastics. Melik Demirel at Penn. State University and his team have genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to grow it.
- 2019-02-19 New Squid Genome Shines Light On Symbiotic Evolution (Quanta)
- Researchers hope that the genes of Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes), which use symbiotic microbes (Vibrio fischeri) to produce camouflaging light, can illuminate how animals evolved organs for beneficial bacteria.
- 2019-01-24 Envisioned "Octopus Farms" Would Have Far-Reaching & Detrimental Environmental Impact (NYU)
- Commercial octopus farming, currently in developmental stages on multiple continents, would have a negative ripple effect on sustainability and animal welfare, concludes a team of researchers.
- 2018-10-31 Octavius The Octopus Surprises Aquarium (Savannah Now)
- Curator Devin Dumont of the Marine Education Center and Aquarium at Skidaway, GA: "I noticed this cloud of moving dots and I realized, 'Oh my God, she had babies. There are babies. There are babies everywhere.' And a sort of panic ensued. I immediately started scooping them out and putting them in buckets and there were just buckets and buckets and buckets full of tiny octopi."
- 2018-10-29 World's Largest Deep-sea Octopus Nursery Discovered (NatGeo)
- Scientists discovered over 1,000 female Muusoctopus robustus, many brooding eggs, in a shimmering "octopus garden" that may be seeping natural gas or hot water.
- 2018-10-29 Rare Dumbo Octopus Filmed Swimming in The Deep Ocean (ScienceAlert)
- Deep in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, marine scientists have been lucky enough to capture a rare and wonderful sight: a sweet Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis) going about its business.
- 2018-10-26 That Adorable Baby Octopus Is Actually a Pea-Sized Killer (Earther)
- An image of a pea-sized cephalopod (O. cyanea or O. ornatus) has been making the rounds this week as the result of how cute this tiny squish appears at first glance. But make no mistake, even a baby octopus can be a cold-hearted killer—and there's photographic evidence to prove it.
- 2018-10-17 Elucidating Cuttlefish Camouflage (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)
- Computational image analysis of behaving cuttlefish reveals principles of control and development of a biological invisibility cloak. Cephalopods control camouflage by the direct action of their brain onto specialized skin cells called chromatophores, that act as biological color "pixels" on a soft skin display. Cuttlefish do not match their local environment pixel by pixel. Instead, they seem to extract, through vision, a statistical approximation of their environment, and use these heuristics to select an adaptive camouflage out of a presumed large but finite repertoire of likely patterns.
- 2018-10-16 Video: Octopus filmed in Dutch waters for first time (Nl Times)
- Hobby diver Mark Barto recorded remarkable footage of a small octopus while diving in the North Sea off the coast of Callantsoog on Saturday. His footage turned out to be even more remarkable than he thought - this is the first time ever a live common octopus was recorded in Dutch waters.
- 2018-10-09 Video: Beloved Octopus "Whisperer" Honored (CBS Boston)
- 84-year-old Wilson Menashi has been volunteering at the New England Aquarium for 25 years. A large portion of his over 8,000 volunteer hours have been spent caring for the aquarium's octopuses. In addition to becoming the first volunteer to ever touch an octopus, Menashi has created deep bonds of trust and affection with his cephalopod companions.
- 2018-09-20 Octopuses Given Ecstasy for Science -- But Is That Ethical? (NatGeo)
- According to scientists at Johns Hopkins University, when given MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, California two-spot octopuses react in much the same way as humans, leading them (the human researchers) to conclude that our brains and octopus brains are wired the same for certain social behaviors. But was it okay to give unsuspecting octopuses a mood-altering drug?
- 2018-08-09 Another Clubhook Squid Washes Up On Oregon Coast (KOIN)
- Clubhook squids (Onykia robusta) can reach a total length of 12 feet. According to the Seaside Aquarium, it's about 9 feet in length and a male. The beak was already gone, but a few tissue samples were taken and will be sent to Alaska to further study the diet of sperm whales. This is the second clubhook squid that has washed ashore in recent weeks.
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