Sunday, September 11, 2011

Flying Squids!



Don't confuse with this one.
Or this one de geso.
This is not new but it sure is interesting. The squid in the first picture is the Ommastrephes bartramii but it isn't the only species able to do this.

Here is an excerpt from Scientific America:
Biologists still do not fully understand the mechanics of squid aeronautics, but based on accumulating anecdotal and photographic evidence, they have no doubt that the phenomenon is real and widespread. "Flying is not at all unusual in several families of squid," says Michael Vecchione, a squid expert at the Smithsonian Institution. In particular, the families Ommastrephidae and Onychoteuthidae are known for their loftiness.

And another from Tree of Life:
Members of the Ommastrephidae are small (about 10 cm ML) to large (about 100 cm ML), muscular squids that are often the dominant large squids in oceanic and, occasionally, neritic waters. A number of species are fished commercially.

Ommastrephid squids are among the strongest swimmers in the Cephalopoda. Some are commonly known as "flying squid" due to their ability to glide over the ocean surface as seen in the photographs.

Click the images to go to the source and get the full resolution. Get the full text from Scientific America here and the Tree of Life page with some more intimate pics of this squid here.

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