Squid capture their prey by using their two long feeding tentacles. These tentacles have many suckers on the tips, on the ends. These are called clubs, and the tentacles are shot out to grab the prey, and then the tentacles contract, bring the prey into the arm crown, the crown of eight arms where the prey is held, and chunks are bitten out of the prey by beaks. Now the beaks, or jaws, are very much like a parrot's beak.
But they are encased in a huge muscular ball so they're extremely powerful and they're very sharp. The beaks are made out of a material like chitin, similar to chitin, which is like shrimp shell, for example, or even like our fingernails, only chemically somewhat different. The point is that the beaks are very sharp, strong and powerful.
2007-01-28 17:53:51
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answer #2
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answered by CanProf 7
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Giant squid eat pretty much anything. They are so big their tentacles can wrap around their prey pulling them into their mouth. Smaller squid eat small fish that are ripped to pieces allowing them to be passed through their gut which goes through the middle of their brain and into their body
Squid eat small fish and crustaceans.
. They capture them with their tentacles and pull them into their mouths. They then digest them, like us, throug a gut.
squid have eight arms and two loger tentacles; making a total of ten tentacle-like appendages.
as forthe giant squid: (from http://whozoo.org/AnlifeSS2001/rachwood/SquidPaper.htm)
The Giant Squid
It goes by the common name of the Giant Squid, scientific name- Architeuthis dux. One of the strangest
things about this elusive giant has to be that it remains the largest cephalopod and the largest mollusk, yet
has never been seen alive. Scientists and researchers, to this day, have never been able to examine the Giant
Squid in its normal deep-water environment. If able to actually film the squids in their environment, a great
deal could be learned. Dr.Clyde Roper, who has been in hot pursuit of the Giant Squid for the past 35 years
says, “[Being able to film] will tell us about locomotion, and whether it is shy, neutral, or aggressive; if it is
solitary or appears in pairs or schools.“ The only way we have been able to learn about them up until this point
has been by studying the ones that become stranded on land or wash ashore. Also, they rarely have turned up
on U.S. beaches. A Giant Squid washed aground on Plum Island, Massachusetts in 1980, was only the 3rd Giant
Squid found stranded on U.S. shores. It measured 9 feet in length and weighed 440 pounds, sex, female.
Also,their parts often have been found in the stomach cavities of the sperm whale who feeds on them. We
cannot really be sure how the sperm whale manages to eat the squid because oftentimes they measure the
same size. What terrible fights must arise in deep unexplored waters. The average size ofthe Giant Squid
ranges from 19.7 to 42.7 feet in length, and weigh in at an average 110-661 pounds. What has been the largest
recorded ever found? One that measured a whopping 59.5 feet and weighed 1 ton!
So what exactly makes up the body of a squid? What you may notice right away are the huge eyes on either
side. One eye actually happens to be larger than the other one. The reason for this lies in the probability that
the squid migrates higher in the water during the night to look forfood. The large eye probably aids in helping
the animal seein the murky depths it inhabits in the daytime. The other eye helps navigate better in the
shallower water where more light exists, even in the hours of darkness. The eyes, which have the unique honor
of being the largest in the animal kingdom, can grow to 10 inches, or roughly the size of a volleyball. The head
of the squid does accommodate an intricate brain. The Giant Squid also has fins, which seem to be relatively
small in this species. They help the mammoth animal maneuver and stay poised as it swims. The mantle, or the
main body, consists of a muscular sac, which contains most of the organ systems. It has eight arms, which
contain two rows of suckers. They have two feeding tentacles that grab and reel in their prey. They also have
a funnel,or a multi-use tube used in breathing, jetting, squirting ink, laying eggs, and excreting waste. How,
might you also wonder, does a squid eat once it does capture its prey? Giant Squids come equipped with a
sharp, horny beak that breaks food up into bite-sized pieces. A file-like radula forces food down the throat
and esophagus, which then goes straight through the brain to the stomach.
So where exactly can the Giant Squid be found? Do we even know? What kind of food do they eat? Well,
according to whaletimes.org, they can be found all over the place. From the North Atlantic, Pacific, northern
Norway, from the Bering Sea to the Sea of Japan. As mentioned earlier, only three have been found on any of
America’s coastlines. The full-grown Giant Squid can be found in the mysterious deep of the ocean, 700 to
3300 feet. Even further down still, you could find a Giant Squid at depths of 13,300 feet. As for food, we
do not know a lot about what exactly the Giant Squid eats. When one has been found washed ashore
somewhere, their stomachs have been perpetually empty. Even when able to find one with food in the stomach,
it has usually been broken down so much for eating, that researchers find it impossible to tell what it was. The
most scientists have come up with is that it feeds mainly on fishes and other squids.
For centuries the mysterious Giant Squid has been the main character in many a horror story, always
portrayed as something to fear, and strike terror into the hearts of many. In long ago times, the Giant Squid
encouraged storiesof a ferocious monster lurking just below the top of the water waiting to assail an
unsuspecting boat. Documented reports of the squid go back to the 16th century. People used to report seeing
giant mer-men but they most likely just saw Giant Squid washed ashore somewhere. You may remember the
movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the squid-attacks-the-submarine scene. Or how about the book,
Beast by Peter Benchley that painted the picture of a 100-foot squid gobbling up tourists in Bermuda. Both of
these scenarios are completely ridiculous, and very good examples of how Hollywood often tries to fill in the
blanks if it is something the least bit mysterious.
Well, who knows how many more deep sea dives and expeditions will need to be scheduled by enthusiastic
researchers like Clyde Roper, Ph.D. (after 35 years of searching, his enthusiasm hasn’t waned). So why are the
Giant Squid so elusive? Why is it that they live so far beneath the ocean? Why are they are able to disappear
in a cloud of ink? “The Giant Squid also have acute vision and may be able to sense and avoid an approaching
submersible using what scientists believe may be a sensory receptor system not unlike the lateral line of a
fish”, according to Roper. He also says that it will not be long until Architeuthis, Greek for Chief Squid, is
caught live on film. He says researchers have the equipment and know-how, and now all they need is the squid.
2007-01-28 18:01:00
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answer #3
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answered by me 2
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