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squid
squid, predatory cephalopod molluscs of the order Teuthoidea. The 298 species of squid range in size from 2 centimetres (1 in.) to 20 metres (65 ft) in the giant squid (Architeuthis dux). The fast-swimming species have some of the highest metabolic rates of all animals. The body is usually cigar shaped with two lateral fins. The head has well-developed eyes and around the mouth with its parrot-beak-like jaws is a ring of eight arms lined with suckers, and two others that are highly extensible tentacles with suckers only on their ends. These extensible arms are shot out to seize the prey. Most squid swim backwards, using jets of water squirted from the siphon just beneath the head. The powerhouse for the jets is the mantle cavity on the underside of the body, which is lined with powerful muscles. The body fins are used for steering, but in some species they undulate to provide the power for normal swimming.
Squid are a favoured food of sperm whales, and titanic struggles have been witnessed between them and giant squid. The giant squid may have given rise to the Norwegian myth of a many-armed sea monster, the kraken. In 2003 a ‘colossal squid’ (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was picked up by fishermen near the surface in Antarctic waters. It was about two-thirds of its potential full size but even so its mantle measured 2.5 metres (8 ft), and when stretched out its arms and tentacles measured 5–6 metres (16–19 ft), so potentially this species could be even larger than the giant squid. It has the largest eyes of any animal and is reported to be extremely aggressive, chasing large prey such as the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), which it grasps with the swivelling hooks on the insides of its tentacles, and rips apart with its parrot-like beak. Previously only six specimens had been found, five of which came from the stomachs of sperm whales. It has been estimated that this species makes up nearly 80% by weight of a bull sperm whale's diet in the Southern Ocean. There are some remarkable deep-sea species. The cock-eyed squid (Histioteuthis) has one big eye and one small eye, and its underside is studded with light organs. Cranchid squid (Cranchia spp.) are jelly-like and concentrate ammonia in their blood making them neutrally buoyant, so they do not have to swim constantly. There are some large fisheries for squid, some of which are sold for human consumption, but many are used as bait for long-lining. In Monterey Bay off California there is an annual event when millions of market squid (Loligo opalescens) gather in huge shoals to spawn and then die. This species, like many squid, live for only a year. Bibliography Hunt, J. , Octopus and Squid (1997). www.cephbase.utmb.edu/ M. V. Angel |
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"squid." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "squid." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-squid.html "squid." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-squid.html |
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squid
squid carnivorous marine cephalopod mollusk. The squid is one of the most highly developed invertebrates, well adapted to its active, predatory life. The characteristic molluscan shell is reduced to a horny plate shaped like a quill pen and buried under the mantle.
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"squid." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "squid." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-squid.html "squid." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-squid.html |
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squid
squid / skwid/ • n. (pl. same or squids ) an elongated, fast-swimming cephalopod mollusk with ten arms (technically, eight arms and two long tentacles), typically able to change color. • Order Teuthoidea and Vampyromorpha, class Cephalopoda, in particular the common genus Loligo. See also giant squid. ∎ this mollusk used as food. ∎ an artificial bait for fish imitating a squid in form. ∎ military slang a sailor. • v. (squid·ded, squid·ding) [intr.] fish using squid as bait. |
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"squid." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "squid." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-squid005.html "squid." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-squid005.html |
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squid
squid Any of numerous species of marine cephalopod molluscs that have a cylindrical body with an internal horny plate (the pen) that serves as a skeleton. It has eight short, suckered tentacles surrounding the mouth, in addition to which there are two longer, arm-like tentacles that can be shot out to seize moving prey. Several species of giant squid (genus Architeuthis) may reach 20m (65ft) in length. Class Cephalopoda; order Teuthoidea.
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"squid." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "squid." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-squid.html "squid." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-squid.html |
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SQUID
SQUID / skwid/ • n. Physics a device used in particular in sensitive magnetometers, which consists of a superconducting ring containing one or more Josephson junctions. A change by one flux quantum in the ring's magnetic flux linkage produces a sharp change in its impedance. |
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"SQUID." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "SQUID." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-squid.html "SQUID." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-squid.html |
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squid
squid (calamar) Marine cephalopod with elongated body and eight arms, Loligo and Illex spp.
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DAVID A. BENDER. "squid." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "squid." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-squid.html DAVID A. BENDER. "squid." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-squid.html |
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squid
squid XVII. of unkn. orig
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T. F. HOAD. "squid." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "squid." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-squid.html T. F. HOAD. "squid." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-squid.html |
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squid
squid
•amid, backslid, bid, did, forbid, grid, hid, id, kid, Kidd, lid, Madrid, mid, outbid, outdid, quid, rid, skid, slid, squid, underbid, yid
•scarabaeid • Aeneid • nereid
•spermatozoid
•Clwyd, Druid, fluid
•noctuid • rabid • carabid • ibid
•morbid • turbid • wretched
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"squid." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "squid." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-squid.html "squid." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-squid.html |
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squid
squid (or SQUID) (skwɪd) Electronics superconducting quantum interference device
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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "squid." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "squid." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-squid.html FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "squid." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-squid.html |
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