The cephalopods were the most intelligent creatures on earth for hundreds of millions of years. Nectocurus pteryx, a squid-like ancestor of all cephalopods, lived 500 million years ago during the Cambrian Age. Fossil specimens of this species are found in the famous Burgess Shales. Cephalopods–a group that includes squid, octopus, cuttlefish, nautiloids, and the extinct ammonites–evolved arms they can use to manipulate objects, and squid, through convergent evolution, evolved eyes quite similar to the human eye, so they can see the world like we do. This explains how they evolved intelligence much greater than that of other invertebrates.
This blog article, like my entry about Pleistocene spiders, is entirely speculative because cephalopods have soft bodies that are also rarely preserved. During Ice Ages sea levels receded and dry land extended across the continental shelf, today inundated by ocean water. It seems likely deep water species of squid inhabited waters adjacent to the shore because steep drop-offs existed much closer to land during these climatic stages. Giant squid (Architeuthis dux), reaching lengths of 43 feet, and colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), almost as long, probably lurked near the coast, whereas today they are normally restricted to deeper waters far out to sea.
The Gulf Stream current that keeps land temperatures moderate in the northern hemisphere often shut down or was greatly reduced during episodes of glacial meltwater influxes known as Heinrich Events. These must have had an impact on squid migration. Many species of squid migrate long distances to spawning grounds, and Heinrich Events must have altered their paths of movement, species abundance, and species composition. Large die-offs probably occurred in some species, while others may have benefitted from the chaos.
Squid are an important food source for marine mammals, and deep sea species of whales likely ventured closer to shore in search of squid during Ice Ages. Seals then living on the shores of the Atlantic Coastal Plain fed on squid.
The composition and species abundance of squid during various stages of the Pleistocene will forever remain a mystery. There are over 300 known species of squid in the world today, but scientists know little about squid species abundance of the present day, let alone of the distant past. One study of squid off the eastern coast of Florida determined eye flash squid (Abralia cf veranyi), flying squid (Ommastrephidae sp.), and shortfin squid (Illex sp.) were the 3 most abundant genera or families.
Eye flash squid are 1 of the most common species found off the coast of eastern Florida.
Shortfin squid–another common species.
Flying squid shoot out of the water to escape predators.
Sperm whales feed mostly on squid. Individuals can be distinguished by scars from battles with giant squid.
I’m not impressed with the flavor of calamari. I’ve had it in a Vietnamese pho soup. The soup itself was delicious, but the calamari was rubbery and tasteless. I’ve tried fried calamari but this too had no flavor. The best squid I’ve ever eaten was a canned Korean product. The squid, packed like sardines, were seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. The seasoning would’ve made anything taste good. However, the squid were not cleaned, and I had to be careful chewing so I wouldn’t break a tooth on the hard beaks.
Reference:
Erickson, Carrie; Clyde Roper and Michael Vecchione
“Variability of Paralarval-Squid Occurrence in Meter-net Tows from East of Florida, USA”
Southeastern Naturalist 16 (4) 2017
Tags: calamari, flying squid, giant squid vs sperm whale, Heinrich Events, Pleistocene squid, sea level drop
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