I spotted this paper:

http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=329

on pharyngula (http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/01/life_of_a_squid.php) today.

It's got some good statistics and factoids on Moroteuthis ingens as well as a lot of general data on squid populations and growth... I already mentioned it over in "Marine Conservation" but I figured I'd post it here for posterity, for people searching for Moroteuthis references... and the Teuthologists who think the "Marine Conservation" forum isn't hardcore enough 'cause it doesn't have latin names. (I had to go to tolweb to look up where to put a Moroteuthis post... perhaps I am not worthy...)

Drat! This would have made a great addition to my presentation... LOL

Very interesting. What I wonder is if there is an actual shift occuring in the ecology of fish vs. squid due to population dynamics

I think it may yet be too early to say (not enough data I mean.......not that there hasn't been enough fishing!). George is pretty astute tho' so it may very well be the case.

J

Very interesting. What I wonder is if there is an actual shift occuring in the ecology of fish vs. squid due to population dynamics

Ha! I knew this vertebrate dominance in the oceans was just a fad!

I think vertebrate dominion is an illusion anyway... soon enough, Cthulhu will call, and we'll all be accepting the charges...

Seriously though, I wonder how much of a shift in populations from fish to squid is actually occuring, and how much of that can directly be attributed to human influence (decline or increase in fish stock).

I wonder how squid fisheries ("squidderies" if you prefer) will be affected by fishing, since direct predation by mammals and fish doesn't seem to hit the numbers too hard.

I think vertebrate dominion is an illusion anyway... soon enough, Cthulhu will call, and we'll all be accepting the charges...



I agree, I have a colleague here who studies nematodes and he often quotes the estimated number of nematodes in square metre (it's some huge number in the gazillions!!!)

J

David Attenborough said in Life in the Undergrowth (OUTSTANDING series, btw) "You are never more than 1 meter from a spider."

Nematodes are found nearly EVERYWHERE. I swear I thought I would faint when I saw them among sand grains. My invert zoo instructor had us looking for gastrotrichs, and all I found were nematodes. I found them in nearly every sample of earth, water, and stratum I could find.

Inverts rule. Its a plain as that.

Can't remember where I heard this, so it may be dubious, but a very cool factoid if true: If you were to remove all matter from the surface of the earth except for nematode tissue, you would still be able to see the outline of everything that had been there before, outlined in nematodes!

Can't remember where I heard this, so it may be dubious, but a very cool factoid if true: If you were to remove all matter from the surface of the earth except for nematode tissue, you would still be able to see the outline of everything that had been there before, outlined in nematodes!

Sounds like a new painting style, nematodism.:yuck:

I think vertebrate dominion is an illusion anyway... soon enough, Cthulhu will call, and we'll all be accepting the charges...

Seriously though, I wonder how much of a shift in populations from fish to squid is actually occuring, and how much of that can directly be attributed to human influence (decline or increase in fish stock).

I wonder how squid fisheries ("squidderies" if you prefer) will be affected by fishing, since direct predation by mammals and fish doesn't seem to hit the numbers too hard.

Nope. Squid are in decline around NZ, at least in the deep-sea they are.

I think I can back you on this Kat. I don't remember my source either, but I've heard that same thing. Very interesting prospect indeed. Also, if Staphylococcus aureus were allowed to propagate in optimal conditions indefinitely, every person in the world would be wading through 6 feet of bacteria in 24 hours. (Learned that in Evolution last term.)

Cheers!