Squid

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The squid is an invertebrate animal that lives in the ocean. Squid are hunted by some whales, most notably the Orca (Killer) Whale. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms and two tentacles arranged in pairs.

[change] Characteristics

Squids have several species, but they have some common characteristics. For instance, all squids have tentacles with suckers, a mouth with a radula, and jet propulsion with the siphon from the mantle. The radulla is a scraping organ in the mouth that scrapes nutrients from food sources. Tentacles are long extensions of specialized tissues from the body that are used for locomotive power and capturing food sources. All squids are carnivores; they eat other animals, not plants.

[change] Family

Squids belong to Phylum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, which is considered to contain some of the most intelligent invertebrate species. Squids have a cephalized structure, which concentrates sensory organs and complex brains into the anterior end, also known as the head. Although the squids and other cephalopods lack exterior shells and other characteristics of mollusks, they have vestiges of the shell.

[change] Giant squids

Giant squids are large squids of the genus Architeuthis. Giant squids are extremely rare. They have once been part of whaler myth, although in 2006, a fishing expedition from Japan captured and killed a giant squid exceeding lengths of 18 meters.