View Full Version : Architeuthis sp are bioluminescent?
Firefly
Feb 05, '11, 6:52pm
Hi all
I did never heard about bioluminescent giant squids ( except Taningia danae and Cranchids ( but these are colossal ones)).
Do you know anything about this?
Thanks.
To my knowledge, all Architeuthis species are devoid of photophores.
baldtankman
Jun 09, '11, 6:10pm
To my knowledge, all Architeuthis species are devoid of photophores.
Are you a lumper or a splitter Ob? Methinks only one species but it is an interesting question....
Hello Firefly,
Don't listen to OB. He's a deeply disturbed man.
There is no evidence for photophores in Architeuthis. However, bioluminescence may occur in squid where no photophores are present, through symbiotic relationships with bioluminescent bacteria which take up residence in the squid's mantle. The bobtail squid is the classic example. Bioluminescence used for counter-illumination, to mask the silhouette of a squid seen from below against downwelling light, is most advantageous is squid that are small and spend a lot of time close to the ocean surface. There is no evidence for any sort of symbiotic bioluminescence in very young Architeuthis, but it would be reasonable to look for it.
Clem
Must... control... Fist... of... Death...
Oh, Fist of Death is it? I thought it was a ticket stub from a Rush concert.
I mean it, Firefly. Ob took part in the defrosting and examination of a 450kg Mesonychoteuthis just so he could eat the bits that floated free of the block.*
Clem
*Ob knows what he's talking about, he really does, even if he is an opportunistic scavenger.
baldtankman
Jun 09, '11, 9:09pm
Don't unlease the fist of death Ob. You might hurt yourself...
Doctors say I might be back on liquids within five to six weeks, or so, looking good!
Contrary to most deep dwelling squid, that are uniformly transparent or deep red (which is black at that depth), Architeuthis employs counter shading. This leads some to believe that it only recently moved to deeper water...
skywindsurfer
Jun 10, '11, 2:56pm
Oh, Fist of Death is it? I thought it was a ticket stub from a Rush concert.
I mean it, Firefly. Ob took part in the defrosting and examination of a 450kg Mesonychoteuthis just so he could eat the bits that floated free of the block.*
Clem
*Ob knows what he's talking about, he really does, even if he is an opportunistic scavenger.
Lol I do belive I saw the footage of that...it was lije watching a game of hungry hungry hippos.
It was all in the name of Science! *ho-hum*
Contrary to most deep dwelling squid, that are uniformly transparent or deep red (which is black at that depth), Architeuthis employs counter shading. This leads some to believe that it only recently moved to deeper water...
Recently on the evolutionary timescale? I'd say that Archie's countershading is as likely to be a vestigial feature as Mesonychoteuthis' ocular photophores: useful when small, superfluous when mature. UNLESS...Archie ascends to shallower depths when mating and spawning.