Cephalopods

Apparently There is a New Squid Species

Dr. M June 5, 2007

If you live anywhere near the Southern California coast, you are aware they are being invaded by the Humboldt squid. In Ventura County they are hauling in boat loads. Two things bug me about these posts.

1. Most of the articles refer to the Humboldt Squid as the Giant Squid, a common name reserved for Architeuthis species.  The common name for Dosidicus gigas, other than the Humboldt Squid, is the Jumbo Squid.  You can even call them the Red Devil.

2. Its this quote “‘They are gnarly; they’ve got more teeth than Jaws,’ said Jeff Grodin, owner of Oxnard’s Capt. Hook’s Sportfishing, where 200 were caught in a single day.” Beg your pardon?  Now it has been a while since I either took or taught invertebrate zoology and it has been probably a year since I held a squid in my hands.  But I was not aware Jumbo Squids had teeth at all and definitely not more than a great white.  Either I need to pay better attention or Jeff Grodin needs to actually look at one of the 200 squid they caught. 

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6 Replies to “Apparently There is a New Squid Species”

  1. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, perchance he is referring to the chitinous teeth on the sucker rings?

  2. You may want to help contribute to the Wikipedia entry on Humbolt Squid, which not only refer to the “teeth” on the suckers, but also provide associated links at the bottom for Giant Squid.

  3. As accuracy goes, the article I saw called them jumbo, in lowercase, so it’s a descriptive word, not part of the name.

    Also, you might want to check the spelling in your title. Apparently, not apparenlty.

  4. Jason is correct that the Humboldt squid’s suckers are armed with hooked horny rings. Which in retrospect may be what the fisherman is discussing. However, to call them teeth is bit of semantic blunder equivalent to referring toenails as teeth.

  6. Just because this excited business owner used a little sarcasim does not mean he was trying to state a scientific fact. This is a huge thing for him and his company and I’m sure he was totally pumped talking about it. Squid do have teeth-lots of them. More than Jaws? I’ve never counted…I do know Jeff Grodin has practically lived out his entire life on the ocean. We shouldn’t doubt his knowledge. Go on a trip with his company…they know their stuff.

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