Is it your favorite? Or do you have a different favorite? I do a lot of deep sea biology. And we know so little about the deep sea, which is the largest living space on our planet, that we find strange things very regularly. And they came across a squid that, when we saw it on the screen, nobody even knew what kind of animal it was, much less what species of squid it was. It wound up being called a twisted squid.
But a couple of other examples include the Casper octopus, which made a big splash in the news a few years ago, and the Bigfin squid or a long-arm squid, which was discovered in the last decade. Tell me, if you could fulfill a dream, what would be the perfect video clip that you would like to see? We keep finding things that are totally unexpected. And every time we find unexpected things, it just blows me away.
In fact, using the same device that Edie developed when she was first working on it and she set it out for one of its first deployments, as soon as she turned it on, she got videos of a big squid. It was 2 meters long. And I sent it around to my friends who work on this kind of thing.
And none of us could figure out what it was. And I would love to get more video of that and maybe a specimen or more information that would let us figure out what kind of squid that was. But yeah, it seems like there are. He helped the research that identified the giant squid. Stay with us. This is Science Friday. We came, we saw, we cephed. And you know one thing we love to see every year is how much you love cephalopods. The reasons I like is because it has a very cool name.
And they shoot viscous fluid instead of ink. And they have some bioluminescent parts on their head. My next guest is also a big fan. She started there with the California two-spotted octopus in and is continuing to look for patterns in the genes of cephalopods that might explain both their weirdness and their success in surviving their ocean habitats. Starting with that first octopus genome back in , what are we finding out about cephalopods from their DNA?
So a genome contains all of the information you need to make an animal. And by sequencing the genome of an octopus, we could find out not only what genes they had that were in common with flies, and mice, and us, but also what genes they have that are completely unique to them. Is there anything in their genes that explains their intelligence or their really complex nervous system? And one of the really surprising things we found when we looked in the genome of Octopus bimaculoides is they had a family of genes— these are called protocadherins.
And these are genes that help cells stick together. And they are important in wiring big, complicated nervous systems like our nervous systems. And so we were really surprised to find them in the octopus genome. And so this was a complete and utter surprise. So they even make the octopus a good area for research, then, to learn about that. And so this is a lot bigger than the genomes of fruit flies or nematodes. So our genome is about 3. And octopus genome is about 2.
And so they have these big, complicated genomes. But many of the genes that they have in there are shared across different animals. In addition, like I mentioned earlier, they have whole suites of genes that are unique to cephalopods. Some of these genes create the iridescence you see in their skin. And we see that squid sometimes have different sets of genes than even octopuses. So in some squids, they have a family of genes, for example, that are on the sucker ring teeth just on the tentacles.
They have eight arms. Squid have eight arms plus two tentacles. And these tentacles have specialized ring teeth. And they have this plastic-y kind of feeling to them. And what about them being smart? Do they have a lot of nervous system genes in them? They have similar numbers to the numbers that we have in terms of neuronal genes that are important in axon function. And so, yeah, they are just surprisingly normal from an animal standpoint.
And yet, they have all of these fantastic otherworldly abilities. Tell me about that, please. So when you turn a gene on, it makes an mRNA copy. And this mRNA copy is then translated into a protein. And it turns out that cephalopods are able to go in and change the sequence of their mRNA, potentially changing the sequence of the protein, creating a whole bunch of different proteins from just a single gene.
And a lot of animals can edit their RNA. We edit our RNA. But cephalopods are doing it orders of magnitude more than other animals. So this is really exciting. This is opening up a whole set of questions that are available only in this species.
Why are they doing this? How are they doing this? Hi, welcome to Science Friday. BILL: OK, my question was, in the recent Scientific American, there was an article about cuttlefish having the same type of sleep pattern or a similar sleep pattern to mammals and humans, including perhaps rapid eye movement and maybe dreaming.
And given, according this article, that we diverged as a species, as a genus almost million years ago, might that be something in both the genomes that is still tied together?
So this might be an indication of what you need to have when you have a big brain. One thing that researchers— and you touched on this before, and I want to delve into this a little bit more— is using cephalopods like lab rats for research that might help us. Why is that such a good idea? And so traditionally— 50, years ago— people were studying animals based on their special traits.
They have a unique thing that they can do. And so people will go study them. And you can create mutants. You can study their biology at a molecular level. And this has only been available in a very few number of animals— so like I mentioned, fruit flies, or nematodes, or mice. You can cast your vote for Cephalopod Of The Year on social media!
Find more info below! Throughout Cephalopod Week, check out our new and archived stories about cephalopods. You can discover our articles, videos, education activities, and radio segments, or dive deep into our pool of stories from Cephalopod Weeks past in the Cephalopod Week Spotlight. RSVP for any or all of our free, online events. Have you ever wanted to sponsor a cephalopod?
Now, you can! What will it look like? Join Our Sea of Support! Using this hands on activity, learn how crafty cephalopods are well adapted to hide in an ocean full of predators. Cuttlefish change the patterns on their body for courtship rituals, when they eat a snack, and most famously when they want to blend in.
The trick, says primatologist Frans de Waal, is to measure animal intelligence not by human standards, but by the standards of an octopus or elephant or chimpanzee. One species of octopus uses changing coloration and shifting postures to send signals to other octopuses.
In this conversation, neurologist Oliver Sacks describes the island of the colorblind, then chats with a researcher searching for giant squid. Science Friday. Latest Episode. A week-long celebration kicks off with some trivia on the origins of squiddy words. Sleepy times for these cephalopods are revealing new clues about memory and learning. Want to learn more about cephalopods? Start by learning about bobtail squids.
Cephalopod genetics, the thrill of the giant squid, and a farewell to Cephalopod Week Like a cuttlefish emerging from its sandy hideaway, Cephalopod Week is back for its sixth year. They talk about octopus behavior, fossilized cuttlefish ink, and proper cephalopod grammar.
When marine biologist Roger Hanlon captured the first scene in this video he started screaming. Celebrate amazing cephalopods with STEM resources for kids of all ages. Will cephalopods one day be as ubiquitous in labs as mice and fruit flies? Recreating this impressive feat of camouflage takes only a balloon and a bit of duct tape.
Why do we love cephalopods?
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