"giant" squid size

Okay, we begin to talk about "unteuthology", I hope nobody will remove it...
The lesser aggression and the better controlling of sexual mating between different animals are important reasons why castration and sterilisation has been made since ages. But the positive result of better growth and more meat was also a reason.
 
Steve and Kat are usually pretty laid back about losing focus if the original thread is actually ceph science related. Still, the question remains, except for satisfying curiousty, why in the world would anyone want to castrate a squid to see if it would grow larger?
 
sorseress said:
Steve and Kat are usually pretty laid back about losing focus if the original thread is actually ceph science related. Still, the question remains, except for satisfying curiousty, why in the world would anyone want to castrate a squid to see if it would grow larger?

Well, I'd be curious about the result, since cephs seem to have preserved some pretty ancient animal hormonal and developmental systems-- in the same way that fruit fly genetics showed us a lot about human development or squid giant axons told us about human nerves, perhaps it would be a Rosetta stone for hormonal control of animal development. Or, perhaps it would lead to giant watch-squids Erich could put in the moat around his creepy castle to devour meddling teenagers and their dog...
 
I would be pretty interested in the results myself. Gigantisism and miniaturisation are two common ways in which speciation occurs. The Giant Squid, Architeuthis dux, is almost a gigantic version of other species of squid, and it's almost as if the thing matured very late in life and kept on growing in the interim.

One of the problems that we are facing with cultured squid is that they do not seem to ever attain the same size as wild stock. This probably reflects the size of the tanks that we are using, that in some way constrain growth .... we are good at rearing 'pygmy squid'. It does tell us that size of the animal is most definitely affected by environmental factors (the opposite of gigantisism in our case). Until I get larger facilities I'll not know if it is dietary or tank size/configuration.
 
This phenomen is known in several fish-species, which keep also very small in small tanks, but there are also many species which always grow in the same way, indifferently how large the tank is.
 
Steve O'Shea said:
I would be pretty interested in the results myself. Gigantisism and miniaturisation are two common ways in which speciation occurs. The Giant Squid, Architeuthis dux, is almost a gigantic version of other species of squid, and it's almost as if the thing matured very late in life and kept on growing in the interim.

By permanently preventing maturation perhaps it would continue to grow, but since it couldn't reproduce itself you couldn't reproduce the affect unless you also altered it's chromosomes. Just by surgically altering one or more individuals you wouldn't be causing or encouraging speciation, you would only have caused those particular individuals to grow larger.
 
Originally posted by Steve O'Shea One of the problems that we are facing with cultured squid is that they do not seem to ever attain the same size as wild stock. This probably reflects the size of the tanks that we are using, that in some way constrain growth .... we are good at rearing 'pygmy squid'. It does tell us that size of the animal is most definitely affected by environmental factors (the opposite of gigantisism in our case). Until I get larger facilities I'll not know if it is dietary or tank size/configuration.

I know that with African Dwarf Frog tadpoles (and froglets) that if they are housed in crowded conditions, they release some kind of phermone or hormone that inhibits the growth of other tadpoles in the tank. This happened with my tadpoles. Some of my tadpoles (same age, same parents) grew incredibly fast and others stayed tiny. When I separated the large ones, the other little ones had a faster growth rate. Wonder if something like this could happen with cephs?
 
I wonder if the ability to do that comes with reaching a certain number of hours? Those that hatch first can insure their food source, and those that hatch later are relegated to eating the left overs. Otherwise, why would some of them do it and others not be able to? Simply survival of the fittest?
 
cuttlegirl said:
I know that with African Dwarf Frog tadpoles (and froglets) that if they are housed in crowded conditions, they release some kind of phermone or hormone that inhibits the growth of other tadpoles in the tank.

By Joves! This is a most jolly interesting post. Have to look into this!
 
Originally posted by Sorceress
I wonder if the ability to do that comes with reaching a certain number of hours? Those that hatch first can insure their food source, and those that hatch later are relegated to eating the left overs. Otherwise, why would some of them do it and others not be able to? Simply survival of the fittest?

African Dwarf Frogs are a unique species. They mate, lay eggs and the eggs hatch within 24-48 hours, all at the same time. They are extremely small when they are born (about 1-2 mm). Also, they are a active, carnivorous tadpole. All other tadpoles are herbivores. They feed on live fresh water plankton until big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp. They have a specialized mouth to suck in their prey.

Here are a few links on the tadpoles...

National Geographic

http://autodax.net/DebanOlson.pdf
 
cuttlegirl said:


African Dwarf Frogs are a unique species. They mate, lay eggs and the eggs hatch within 24-48 hours, all at the same time. They are extremely small when they are born (about 1-2 mm). Also, they are a active, carnivorous tadpole. All other tadpoles are herbivores. They feed on live fresh water plankton until big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp. They have a specialized mouth to suck in their prey.

Here are a few links on the tadpoles...

National Geographic

http://autodax.net/DebanOlson.pdf

Someone told me in my distant youth that tadpoles ate mosquito larvae... I guess I've been living under tadpole delusions for years!
 
Originally posted by Steve O'Shea
By Joves! This is a most jolly interesting post. Have to look into this!

By Joves, here's a start...

Collins JP, Cheek JE (1983) Effect of food and density on development of typical and cannibalistic salamander larvae in Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum. Am. Zool. 23: 77-84.

Brockelman, Warren Y. (1969) An Analysis of Density Effects and Predation in Bufo Americanus Tadpoles. Ecology, 50(4): 632-644.

I found two!!!
Aikin, G.C. (1966). Self-inhibition of growth in Rana pipiens tadpoles. Physiol. Zool. 39: 341.

Rose, S.M. and F.C. Rose, F.C. (1961) Growth controlling exudates of tadpoles. Proc. Symp Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 15: 207-281.

Sorry they are so old, but it will give you a start.
 

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