Comments on: Contemplating Calamari

By: Fishing Gears discount codes

Fishing Gears discount codes — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:13:08 +0000

These are fantastic pictures! They almost seem surreal.

Thanks for sharing.

By: On New Year calligraphy and squid sex « AMPONTAN

On New Year calligraphy and squid sex « AMPONTAN — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:58:54 +0000

[...] spring attract schools of diver/photographers. Tony Wu describes his dive and offers his photos in this blog post. Watching the behavior of the squid in the act isn’t voyeurism; it’s so fascinating and [...]

By: Sen Wong

Sen Wong — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:17:37 +0000

Very nice writeup Tony.

I love how the cuttlefish glow very subtly in your photos. Beautifully done.

By: tony

tony — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:11:38 +0000

Hi Arne,

Cool. Do the Loligo vulgaris gather in big numbers like the Sepioteuthis lessiona do here?

By: Arne Kuilman

Arne Kuilman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:07:01 +0000

The big fins are beautiful ofcourse! We have a predictable mating and egglaying season in the Netherlands starting in May when the water reaches a toasty – for Sepia and squid (Loligo vulgaris)! – 13C degrees.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:11:30 +0000

Thanks Robert. Giant cuttlefish sound interesting too!

As far as I know, I haven’t heard of predictable bigfin reef squid aggregations anywhere else. I’m hoping that if this takes place regularly someplace else, someone will let me know.

Come over next year and see the squid!

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:48:27 +0000

Beautiful photographs Tony. We have a similar yearly event with our Giant Cuttlefish in Whyalla. No such event with squid here though and so they remain shy an illusive to photograph.

By: Mark Thorpe

Mark Thorpe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:07:27 +0000

Hey Tony,
Great story there. Saw the headline a few days back but hitting the keys for the last week. Excellent images to boot, as always. Maybe next year we should head up there with the Red and get that in 4K! Sounds like a plan.
Keep up the good work.
Mark.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:49:37 +0000

Hi Ron,

Thanks for your informative comment!

Indeed, “intense and colorful” is a good way to describe the captivating competitive behavior and displays of the males…quite an amazing spectacle when I was sitting among them, with squid all around and above me.

Cheers,

Tony

By: Ron Silver

Ron Silver — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:44:37 +0000

Great photos.

The mating behavior you noted is the male attempting to ensure that it is his sperm packet that the female uses to fertilize the eggs. The males usually place a packet of sperm into the body cavity of the females with a specially adapted ‘arm’. She will then fertilize the eggs by rubbing it along the sperm packet prior to placing them in a safe spot for incubation. It has been noted that ’sneaker males’ will remove another male squid’s sperm packet from the female and replace it with one of his own if the female squid is not closely guarded. The actions of competing males can be quite intense and very, very colorful.