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In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". calamari • \kah-luh-MAHR-ee\ • noun squid used as food Example sentence: Ophelia tried fried calamari for the first time from a small seafood shack near the beach. Did you know? The word "calamari" was borrowed into English from 17th-century Italian, where it functioned as the plural of "calamaro" or "calamaio." The Italian word, in turn, comes from the Medieval Latin noun "calamarium," meaning "ink pot" or "pen case," and can be ultimately traced...

Teamwork Between Shining Bacteria and Squids Evolved? by Brian Thomas, M.S.* Certain strains of bacteria, named Vibrio, can establish a mutually beneficial link with a squid by a single gene switch, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin.1 Could this precisely specified biochemistry really have evolved from the comparatively “simple” switching-on of just one gene, as their study suggests? Vibrio bacteria have a well-orchestrated capacity to interact with specialized tissue found on the bobtail squid and the Japanese pinecone fish.2 A biochemical “conversation” takes place between animal and bacteria whereby the animal’s specialized tissue secretes a gummy substance that...

Dolphins are fantastic sea chefs who have mastered the art of rustling up a soft meal of calamari, say scientists. The intelligent sea mammals have been spotted going through precise and elaborate preparations to rid cuttlefish of ink and bone to produce a soft meal of calamari. Australian researchers observed one wild female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin The research team, writing in the science journal PLoS One, said they repeatedly observed a female dolphin herding cuttlefish out of algal weed and onto a clear, sandy patch of seafloor. The dolphin, identified using circular body scars, then pinned the cuttlefish with its...

An underwater camera at an oil and gas drilling site off the coast of Texas has captured a rare sight: a squid with "elbows."

A fishery cooperative in Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, sells a rather unique New Year's greeting postcard — you can eat it. Season's greetings: An employee of a fishery cooperative of Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, shows off dried squid that can be used as New Year's postcards. KYODO PHOTO It is made of dried squid, a local specialty of the town. The flat, vacuum-packed squid is wrapped in paper on which the sender pastes a sticker with the recipient's name and address. The postcard can be sent through the ordinary mail. The cooperative usually produces only 3,000 of the postcards every year, but...

Researchers in Northern California are dissecting what appears to be a rare giant squid found this week near Monterey Bay. The squid was 25 feet long and had tentacles as thick as a human leg. Researchers are fairly certain it's a giant squid, as opposed to another type of cephalopod.

Australian fishermen net 500-pound squid 4 hours agoMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian fishermen have hauled up a 20-foot-long giant squid off the country's southeastern coast.Skipper Rangi Pene said Monday that the 500-pound squid was already dead when it was caught in a trawler's nets Sunday night in waters more than 1,640 feet deep.Paul McCoy, a fisheries research biologist, said it took 10 men to lift the squid onto a stretcher and place it in a storage freezer in the city of Portland. A museum will collect it this week.McCoy said an analysis by the museum would determine the type...

WELLINGTON (AFP) - The largest squid ever caught began to reveal its secrets Wednesday, including beach ball-sized eyes that scientists said were the biggest known in the animal kingdom. The 495-kilogram (1,090-pound) colossal squid -- accidentally caught by a fishing boat in Antarctic waters in February 2007 -- is slowly thawing under the fascinated gaze of a team of scientists at the Museum of New Zealand. While defrosting took longer than expected Wednesday, one of the earliest revelations were eyes measuring 27 centimetres (11 inches) across with lenses of 10 to 12 centimetres in diameter. In comparison, a human eye...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Marine scientists in New Zealand on Tuesday were thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught to try to unlock the secrets of one of the ocean's most mysterious beasts. No one has ever seen a living, grown colossal squid in its natural deep ocean habitat, and scientists hope their examination of the 1,089-pound, 26-foot long colossal squid, set to begin Wednesday, will help determine how the creatures live. The thawing and examination are being broadcast live on the Internet. The squid, which was caught accidentally by fishermen last year, was removed from its freezer...

WASHINGTON – They definitely aren’t your garden-variety calamari. The jumbo squid now lurking off the Pacific Northwest coast could threaten salmon runs and signal yet another change in the oceans brought on by global warming. The squid, which can reach 7 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, are aggressive. They’re thought to hunt in packs and can move at speeds up to 15 mph. In Mexico, they are known as diablos rojos, or red devils. There have been reports that they’ll attack divers when threatened. No one knows why they started appearing in increasing numbers off Washington state...

Blumenthal On the Boil

BALI, Indonesia -- More than 3,000 flying foxes dropped dead, falling from trees in Australia. Giant squid migrated north to commercial fishing grounds off California, gobbling anchovy and hake. Butterflies have gone extinct in the Alps. While humans debate at U.N. climate change talks in Bali, global warming is already wreaking havoc with nature. Most plants and animals are affected, and the change is occurring too quickly for them to evolve. "A hell of a lot of species are in big trouble," said Stephen E. Williams, the director of the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity & Climate Change at James Cook...

The DNA expert was troubled by the relationship between the squid's eye and various humans she had seen. Could a gene migrate across evolutionary lines? Thats was the basis for the PhD's manuscript.

MONTEREY, Calif. - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds is invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday. An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid — or Dosidicus gigas — can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. "Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another...

The squid that washed up on an Australian beach weights 550 pounds and is 26 feet long from the tip of its body to the end of its tentacles.---AFP/Getty Images HOBART, Australia — A squid as long as a bus and weighing 550 pounds washed up on an Australian beach, officials said today."It is a whopper," said Genefor Walker-Smith, a zoologist who studies invertebrates at the Tasmanian Museum.Giant squid live in waters off southern Australia and New Zealand — where a half-ton colossus, believed to be the world's largest, was caught in February. They attract the sperm whales that...

Unknown Creature Caught Off Hawaii Biologists are studying what appears to be a never-before-seen life form described as a cross between a squid and a octopus, recently collected from a depth of over 3000 feet. "It's red, slimy, has probing tentacles, and hates the United States, we think it's possibly related to Nancy Pelosi," said researcher Frank Hauni. While it is a well-known fact Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-Calif) has vacationed in Hawaii many times, she has vigorously denied ever having a relationship with an invertebrate species. "I had an acquaintance who happened to be a squid in...

A squid-like creature, rescued from a Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority deep water pipe filter, swims in a fish tank Wednesday at the facility As denizens of the deep go, it isn't very intimidating. But local scientists are nevertheless fascinated with the tentacled creature that was sucked up to the surface Tuesday by the 55-inch deep sea pipeline at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. "It's kind of an 'octosquid,'" said Jan War, operations manager at NELHA at Keahole Point. "It's got the body of a squid but the eight tentacles of an octopus." The foot-long "octosquid" was...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A colossal half-ton squid, believed to be the largest ever caught, may be destined for the microwave ove But researchers say they don't want to cook the massive creature ? just defrost it so they can study it better.

They're not quite sea monsters, but anglers here are landing squid nearly 6 feet long, far larger than a typical catch. One Newport Landing Sportfishing boat came back Saturday with a load of squid that averaged 30 pounds each, and 5 feet in length. A 4-pound squid is typical, but the largest in the catch weighed 50 pounds and was nearly 6 feet long. "People were getting wet and trying to avoid getting inked," said Newport Landing manager Steffanie Hillerstein. The boat was fishing the waters just south of Laguna Beach. Anglers, using 10-inch long lures, needed nearly 10 minutes...