Dear Trinity,
Here are some more cool words we know: loliguncula brevis. This has a siphon, beak, 2tentacles, 8 legs, a mantle, chromatophores, gills, fins, a shell, and an ink sac. Do you know what a loliguncula brevis is? It is a squid!!
We examined them, identified many if the parts from the outside examination, and then explored the interior organs. We used our Forceps to make incisions along the mantle, and removed the shell,which is sometimes called a pen (more about that later in this blog). We learned how to distinguish males fro females. We found out while humans have a cup-like eye lens, a squid has a spherical lens. A squid has many of the same organs as a humans, including the heart and esophagus, The siphon is for water propulsion. The beak is strong and can break the shells of other mollusks a squid feeds on.
Did you know in the old days, sailors used the ink from squid to write letters? And since this was before the invention of the ball point pen, they used the squid shell, for … You guessed it, the pen. We gave ourselves squid ink tattoos, using the squid pens. Then, believe it or not, we fried up the mantles we removed and ate them. Fried squid is called Calimari, it tastes like chewy chicken.
How cool is loliguncula brevis? Ask us all about it when we return. We have lots of stories to tell!