Welcome to the SQUID page!

It's squidtastic info all about squid! You will see why squid are so fascinating to me if you read on and visit the squid links throughout this page.

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The Squid is an invertebrate (animal without a backbone) that swims in the oceans. This mollusk is closely related to the octopus. Squid can change the color of their skin to mimic their environment and hide from predators.
Squid are soft-bodied cephalopods . They move by squirting water from the mantle through the siphon, using a type of jet propulsion. When in danger, squid squirt a cloud of dark ink in order to confuse their attacker and allow the squid to escape. Squid reproduce by releasing eggs into the water. Some squid eggs are free-floating, others are attached to seaweed or to the ocean floor.

Anatomy: Squid range from 1 to 60 ft (0.3 to 18 m) long. The biggest squid is the Giant Squid Architeuthis. Squid have a large mantle/head (with a large brain), eight arms with suckers, two longer feeding tentacles, a beak, a large head, two large eyes, and two hearts. Their large eyes are very similar in structure to people's eyes. They breathe using gills.

Diet: Squid eat fish, crustaceans (like shrimp), and other squid. These fast-moving carnivores (meat-eaters) catch prey with their two feeding tentacles, then hold the prey with the eight arms and bite it into small pieces using a parrot-like beak. The esophagus runs through the brain, so the food must be in small pieces before swallowing.

Predators: Many animals prey upon squid, including many sharks and other fish, some whales, squid, and people.

Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, Order Teuthoidea, Families Loliginidae, Sepiolidae, and Architeuthidae.

Source: EnchantedLearning.com

Ventral view of the viscera of Chtenopteryx sicula .European Squid (Loligo vulgaris)

Monster Glowing Squid Caught on Camera

The first ever video footage of wild Dana octopus squid has revealed that the giant animals possess an unusual weapon: glowing arms used to blind and stun their prey. The footage was captured by a Japanese research team using cameras linked to baited lures (shown here)

Photo in the News: Giant Squid Captured, Filmed for First Time, December 22, 2006

Read this article here

. Giant squid photo

Image of the skin from a whale with the scars left from the tentacles of a Giant Squid.

Read more about this image and squid here.

The fabled underwater encounter between the sperm whale and giant squid.

Tentacular club of Architeuthis

The "nearly perfect specimen" that was beached alive in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland , on September 24, 1877. This specimen measured 39.5 ft in total length, close to the maximum known size of giant squid.

Giant squid, measuring 7 m, encased in a block of ice at the Melbourne Aquairium.

A giant squid's tentacles with a human hand for size comparison.

Fried Calamri (Deep fried squid rings)

Squid drying in Iwami harbor.

My Favorite Squid: The Umbrella Squid

Histioteuthis bonellii

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Squid Sources: Wikipedia.org, Enchanted Learning.com, National Geographic.com, and Squid.us.

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