December 20, 2001

11:47 PM

Bizarre new species of deep sea squid - Yes, you may have read about it earlier, but this link is a photo of one of the strangest new species to be discovered in a long time. Seventeen feet of weirdness 10,000 feet below the surface. It's cool that we can still find new alien life forms without yet venturing into space.
posted by kokogiak (34 comments total)

I knew that moon landing stuff was a hoax, although are you certain that we have not 'yet ventur(ed) into space.'?
posted by RobertLoch at 11:51 PM on December 20, 2001

Argh. Pick pick pick. If you couldn't derive my intent from the context, then I'll spell it out. "It's cool that we can still find new alien life forms right here on Earth. (implying that we have more success here than in Space)" Okay, poorly worded, but you do get the gist right? Right? Okay, groovy.

It's a pretty striking image though, don't you think? (attempt to deter thread highjack)
posted by kokogiak at 12:02 AM on December 21, 2001

Looks like a job for the largest deep fryer in the world.
posted by euphorb at 12:35 AM on December 21, 2001

Wow, that's the first time a giant squid has been photographed alive. It looks beautiful. Kokogiak, you must know all about them, but for us amateurs here is an interesting site from the Smithsonian and NASA which kinda puts the importance of this find in context.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:53 AM on December 21, 2001

New species are a dime a dozen



What an odd thing to say?
posted by riffola at 12:54 AM on December 21, 2001

New species are a dime a dozen - I wonder how many variations of tubeworm species or species of beetles there are? Maybe finding a slight variance in an animal that makes it a new species is more common than we think - that would be weird by itself.
posted by kokogiak at 1:20 AM on December 21, 2001

New species are a dime a dozen - I remember my high school biology teacher saying the same thing. There's a lot more world out there than can be cataloged I guess. Never went into biology so *shrug*.
posted by Tacodog at 1:56 AM on December 21, 2001

It reminds me of a mobile Hydra. I'd prefer they called it a Giant Hydra than a squid.
posted by wantwit at 1:57 AM on December 21, 2001

"IA! IA! CTHULHU FHTAGN! PH'NGLUI MGLW'NAFH CTHULHU R'LYEH WGAH'NNAGL FHTAGN!" And just in time for Christmas too. It gives me that warm, cosy feeling inside, as if I'm about to spontaneously combust.
posted by Hogshead at 3:25 AM on December 21, 2001

Aren't we supposed to first get some vague, blurred images in these cases ? This one almost seems to be too good to be real. I guess it's a very lucky shot. Anyway, it looks creepy. It doesn't look like the legendary 'super-squid', though...
posted by swordfishtrombones at 3:53 AM on December 21, 2001

Any tips on barbequeing such a beast?
posted by kerplunk at 4:04 AM on December 21, 2001

Make sure it's dead first.
posted by yerfatma at 4:53 AM on December 21, 2001

It's cool that we can still find new alien life forms without yet venturing into space.

feh. you should visit my office sometime.
posted by quonsar at 5:24 AM on December 21, 2001

It says in the article:


The squid -- which should not be confused with giant squid, which are an identified species, may be the adult forms of some juveniles found in recent years, Vecchione said. These were named Magnapinnidae, which means ``big fins.''


So this is not the giant squid, but something completely different.
posted by Grum at 5:27 AM on December 21, 2001

> So this is not the giant squid

It's the pretty big squid. With ten long, sticky legs. That lives three miles down.

It's beautiful.
posted by pracowity at 5:57 AM on December 21, 2001

Let's appreciate Mother Earth! Patient Cameraman in a Marsh: William Burt is pacing around a patch of flattened marsh. Every now and then he stops to peer at a section of it framed with his hands. He is stalking a photograph — of grasses — in the Elliott Island marsh on Maryland's Eastern Shore...I ask Mr. Burt what it is about a marsh, besides the hidden treasures, that draws him. "It hides things so well," he says. "It's almost like a veil of mist. There are all these treasures in it, generally birds, but there can also be flowers in it. But for me originally it was the hidden birds." (New York Times)
posted by Carol Anne at 6:06 AM on December 21, 2001

There's a quicktime movie of it at nature.com. This is lovely, kokogiak!
posted by realjanetkagan at 6:19 AM on December 21, 2001

Have you guys seen the Mimic Octopus also discovered recently? Very bizarre. It imitates, with astonishing accuracy, the shape, color and actions of many other creatures. Not only can it imitate other arthropods, but also sea snakes, lionfish, seahorses, flounders and crabs to name a few.
posted by Davezilla at 7:57 AM on December 21, 2001

Are they serving this at Red Lobster yet?
posted by ParisParamus at 8:18 AM on December 21, 2001

Lol, hogshead, I just came in here aiming at posting that same exact quote.



Speaking of Cthulu, there's a real treat for lovecraft fans in the LOTR movie.
posted by malphigian at 8:25 AM on December 21, 2001

From those movies, it looks more jellyfish-like than squid-like.
posted by daser at 8:39 AM on December 21, 2001

You don't want to eat these things. Deep ocean squids, like Architeuthis (giant squid), are ammonia based, as opposed to...I forget...whatever it is your everyday eatin' variety is full of. Some researchers have tried giant squid, and it wasn't tasty. Mmmmm...ammonia.



But maybe this squid is different.
posted by etc. at 8:51 AM on December 21, 2001

'Argh. Pick pick pick. If you couldn't derive my intent from the context' I confess, I was just being a prat. I thought that I'd spend 5 minutes with the 'correction police,' but it's a bit dull. Great image.
posted by RobertLoch at 9:52 AM on December 21, 2001

cthulhu aside, this thing also looks disturbingly like the 4th Angel...
posted by dorian at 10:22 AM on December 21, 2001

OK dorian, educate those of us who don't know. What's the 4th Angel?
posted by kokogiak at 10:29 AM on December 21, 2001

Here is a great site I thought I posted about 2 AM:NOAA INVESTIGATES GIANT DEEP-SEA ‘MYSTERY SQUID'
posted by Mack Twain at 10:42 AM on December 21, 2001

I think it's fascinating, but I'm having a hard time calling it beautiful.

The movie reminds me of a daddy longlegs wearing a poofy shirt. Standing over a fan.
posted by jragon at 10:44 AM on December 21, 2001

NPR's Science Friday is covering this right now...
posted by y2karl at 11:13 AM on December 21, 2001

Looks like their site's getting hammered, though... Slow.
posted by y2karl at 11:15 AM on December 21, 2001

davezilla...thanks for the mimic octopus link...that is pretty amazing.
posted by th3ph17 at 11:25 AM on December 21, 2001

They (NPR) have a link on their site to Science Online's take on the Big Squid though - tons of more photos and video. Gotta love it.
posted by kokogiak at 11:26 AM on December 21, 2001

What's the 4th Angel?

I think it's probably a reference to neon genesis evangelion - I think this is the 4th angel.
posted by chrisege at 11:28 AM on December 21, 2001

Didn't these creatures have 'walk-on' rolls in "Independence Day", or was it "The Abyss"?

All these newly discovered alien species keep me confused.
posted by DBAPaul at 6:01 AM on December 22, 2001

DBA.. that was fantasy. This is reality.
posted by stbalbach at 7:03 PM on December 22, 2001