View Full Version : difference


biodraft
Sep 28th, 2005, 07:38am
hello, i was talking to my colleagues about squid and cuttlefish today. then this guy asked whether are there any difference between squid and cuttlefish and i replied him YES. another "smart" guy says theres no difference between them. i printed some photos of squid and cuttlefish for him to see but he still dont agree that squid and cuttlefish are different!

i would like to ask you guys what are the difference between squid and cuttlefish?

thanks

monty
Sep 28th, 2005, 02:24pm
hello, i was talking to my colleagues about squid and cuttlefish today. then this guy asked whether are there any difference between squid and cuttlefish and i replied him YES. another "smart" guy says theres no difference between them. i printed some photos of squid and cuttlefish for him to see but he still dont agree that squid and cuttlefish are different!

i would like to ask you guys what are the difference between squid and cuttlefish?

thanks

Although the basic body plan is similar, there are a number of major differences between them... they mostly boil down to the fact that squid are generally streamlined open-water swimmers, while cuttlefish are slower, floating animals that stay in the shallows near the bottom. To accomodate this lifestyle, cuttlefish have a large, hollow cuttlebone which squids lack, which they fill with gas to provide neutral buoyancy. They also have a "skirt" fin that goes all the way around the mantle, while squids usually just have 2 fins near the tip. Some squids (like giant squids, for example) actually attain neutral buoyancy without a cuttlebone by having ammonia in their bodies, since it is lighter than water, but as a general rule, they are still more squid-like in behavior and habitat. Most squids, however, have to keep swimming all the time to stop from sinking. I'm sure some of the real biologists and cuttle afficianados will chime in with things I've forgotten, but that's the gist of it...

biodraft
Sep 29th, 2005, 10:19am
how about the squid and cuttlefish we eat? whats their difference?

Thales
Sep 29th, 2005, 12:19pm
Monty pretty much nailed it. :D

The difference between the squid and cuttlefish we eat is about the same as the difference between duck and turkey - similar but different. :D