Black eyed squid drags thousands of eggs

Costa Rica's Schmidt Ocean Institute shared rare footage of a black-eyed squid carrying a mass of eggs resembling a long dress underwater.

Black-eyed squid carry thousands of eggs.

Black-eyed squid incubating a large clutch of eggs. Video : Schmidt Ocean Institute

Researchers discovered the black-eyed squid ( Gonatus onyx ), one of the few squid species capable of incubating its eggs, during an expedition off the coast of Costa Rica, Live Science reported on January 4.

"The large egg mass attaches to hooks on the squid's arms. For several months carrying the egg mass, they won't eat anything," explained a representative from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the organization that led the expedition, when posting footage of the black-eyed squid on social media. The impressive footage shows the squid dragging the egg mass like a long dress and gracefully flapping its fins to swim through the water.

Marine biologists once believed that black-eyed squid and other squid species laid their eggs in clusters on the seabed, allowing them to develop and hatch naturally. However, in 2001, Brad Seibel, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), refuted this idea. Seibel observed a black-eyed squid incubating its egg sac in Monterey Canyon, off the coast of California, USA, through the lens of a remotely operated submersible.

In a 2005 study, Seibel and colleagues described the incubation behavior of female black-eyed squid. They can carry up to 3,000 eggs and move them through open water until the hatchlings emerge and swim away. The squid use their arms to pump water through the egg mass, helping to provide oxygen to the eggs.

Black-eyed squid are among the most abundant cephalopod species in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In the North Pacific, they are commonly found at depths exceeding 1,900 meters. They have neutral buoyancy, meaning they can float or swim with little effort, but squid carrying eggs cannot swim quickly and can become easy prey for deep-dwelling marine mammals.

Thu Thao (According to Live Science )

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/muc-mat-den-keo-theo-hang-nghin-qua-trung-4697165.html