Rise up against the system

i disected a pig once... got halfway done on the first class and the next day i went to finish and it had run away... no where to be found... i think that the janitor ate it maybe.


really....
it happened...
seriously...
 
So Jean where exactly do you look for it? I understand it is in the "cartilaginous skull" - is this behind the mouth area? And after you find the skull part, do you just go through slice by slice?
 
The way I do it is to go in from the ventral side, you reflect back the funnel then feel for a ridge in the cartilage that runs transversely across the head (at least in Nototodarus and Mortoteuthis) that is about the level where the statocyst chamber is. Then I cut across this ridge two thirds of the way through. This should cut through the chamber. The statoliths are visible (on either side, depending on exactly where you cut!) as small opaque white calcareous inclusions. In the squid I've worked with they are about a millimetre in length!

Good hunting!

J
 
cttlfish said:
I've heard about these statolith thingies, but what are they and what do they do?

Statoliths are small calcareous secretions in the head of a squid (called otoliths in fish) sometimes called "ear bones". Essentially they are to aid in balance, position in water etc. They behave a little like our inner ear. They have also been called accelerometers and gravimeters!
j
 

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