Posts Tagged ‘squid’

Sometimes the sea tosses up the eggs of the squid. The eggs are inside jelly 'fingers'. When you hold the jelly up to the light, you can see the eggs inside. Squid come in many sizes. Some are as small as a short pencil. Some are very large. They range from less than an inch to more than sixty feet. The deep ocean giant squid can be longer than a city bus. Squid can change color. They often change color when they are disturbed. They live in salt water and do not have external shells.

Ocean arrow squid

Ocean arrow squids move very fast. They usually move backward by shooting a jet of water out the front end. Arrow squid inhibit shallow water to ocean depths of about 1000 meters.

Arrow squid are schooling ocean life. They usually aggregate near the ocean bed during the day and disperse throughout the water at night. Arrow squid feed mainly at night. They eat fish and smaller squid.

What do squid eat?

Squid catch and eat small ocean life such as fish, shrimps, and crabs in its ten long slithery arms. When a squid finds a school of fish, it grabs one and holds the fish near its mouth using its long arms. The squid then bites off chunks of its prey with its beak.

Giant Squid

The largest giant squid recorded was about 60 feet long. Its mantle was 16.4 feet. This giant squid weighed 1 ton. On average, a giant squid is about 20 - 40 feet long. The mantle is about 4 - 8 feet long. A giant squid weighs on average about 100 - 600 pounds.

Giant squid are deep ocean life. They are found 700 - 4,000 feet deep into the ocean. However, exact locations where giant squid can be found in the ocean is not known, therefore scientists are unable to examine them live. Scientists were able to examine some giant squid washed ashore.

Giant squid have the largest eyes of any animals in the world. Their eyes can be 10 inches in diameter. They have very thick eight arms and two feeding tentacles which are thinner and longer.

What giant squid eat

Giant squid feed on fish and smaller squid. They may also eat other small ocean life. The giant squid shoots out its two tentacles and grabs the prey. The tentacles close over the prey and bring it back to the giant squid's mouth. The giant squid then eats the prey ocean life with its beak in chunks.