Mary Allen
The squid is mollusks that live in the sea. They belong to the class of cephalopods. They got their name because of the ink sac inside their bodies. In case of danger, they can eject ink from it. The attacking predator should confuse the cloud of ink with the prey. By attacking the cloud of ink, he loses time and the squid can escape. Squids have suction cups on their arms that they use to hold onto their prey.
Up until about 150 years ago, people would not believe in giant squid. It was thought that sailors only dreamed up such monsters. Even the findings of stranded dead animals with lengths of well over ten meters were not taken seriously by scientists for a long time. Today we know that these animals actually exist. They are called giant squids, live in the deep sea, and grow to be over 18 meters long.
Squid feed on fish and crustaceans. Her mouth is on the underside of her head, right in the middle of her tentacles. They have no teeth but a beak.
What different types of squid are there?
There are more than 500 species of squid. Many can even change color. A distinction is made between octopuses, cuttlefish, squid, and others.
The best known is the octopus. It is also called the octopus because of its eight arms. This is a Latin language and means “eight-footed”. Octopuses have a sac-shaped bodies with two large eyes. There are no hard parts inside. They are very agile and intelligent. Octopuses also use their arms to “walk” on the sea floor.
They can even stay out of the water for some time, such as escaping an aquarium, if the lid is not tightly closed. Fleeing, they push water out of their bodies and use recoil to escape.
Another species is the cuttlefish. They say Se-pi-en. They live near the ground. They even have a species that is actually called “common squid”. Cuttlefish change color when startled stressed or trying to impress a partner. For example, they can create striped patterns or spots and also change the pattern quickly. A cuttlefish has ten fairly short tentacles around its mouth. A fin hem runs around its long body. They can use it to move forward and backward.
Squids live in open water. They have cone-shaped bodies. Two of their ten tentacles are particularly long. At the end of the two extended arms, they have a kind of “paddle”. This allows them to grab fish and pull them to their mouths. The other eight arms are rather short. In relation to the body, the eyes of the squid are significantly larger than those of other cuttlefish. The squid moves via a funnel, from which they press the water out of their bodies. This allows them to reach very high speeds. This propulsion is similar to that of a rocket.