this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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Today I Learned

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There's a flying squid? (www.discoverwildlife.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by kamenlady to c/til
 

I knew there's a flying squid that likes to post memes though

If a squid swimming near the surface is spooked by a predator or a boat, it streamlines into a torpedo shape and fires itself out of the water. At the same time, it splays its eight tentacles into a flat, fan-like pattern in front of its face – some breeds even exude mucus to fill in the spaces, creating a unified, kite-like surface. It also flares a pair of fins near its rear end and – voilà – the squid becomes a living, breathing jet.

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[–] FlyingSquid 32 points 18 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 16 hours ago

I can vouch for this guys experience.

[–] Viking_Hippie 15 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

I wonder whether @[email protected] knew and based his name on it or it's just a coincidence 🤔

[–] FlyingSquid 34 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I did know! One day many years ago (we're talking 1990s here), I was talking to people on IRC and I said, "you know what would be awesome? If squid could fly."

And then I looked just for the hell of it and it turns out they can. I've been FlyingSquid ever since.

I still think that's one of the coolest things in nature.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I think you're one of the coolest people in the fediverse ..... keep flying you crazy squid

[–] FlyingSquid 8 points 15 hours ago

Thanks! I feel the same about you!

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 day ago (1 children)

@[email protected] .... your squid signal has been shone into the fediverse skyline

[–] FlyingSquid 11 points 18 hours ago

Yes indeed! See my response to Viking_Hippie about getting my username. It is due to this awesome fact.

[–] Gingerlegs 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Careful, you’ll summon him

[–] kamenlady 6 points 17 hours ago

That was my intention

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How many tickles does it take to make a squid fly?

I figure it's got to be about ten tickles

[–] gofsckyourself 12 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Squids have two tentacles. The rest are arms.

A set of eight arms and two distinctive tentacles surround the mouth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid#Description

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Two tentacles and, if you're like me, a great big hectocotylus.

That's right, ladies. You know you want this squid's hectocotylus getting past your mantle.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Are you one of the species that rips theirs off and hucks it at the female to prevent being eaten?

Maybe I'm thinking of an octopus..

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know what you're thinking of, but it's none of us higher molluscs.

NSFO porn:

spoiler

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001 2 points 15 hours ago

Apparently I've been misled as the octopus I was thinking of, the argonaut, doesn't actually have a detachable hectocotylus.

Zefrank lied to me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

That's interesting, when I was a kid I remember always hearing that an octopus has eight tentacles and a squid has ten. I suppose 'limbs' might have been a more accurate descriptor.

Oddly, I knew that cuttlefish have a distinction between arms and tentacles. I'm not in biology, but I always thought of them as tiny squid, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were related.

If you're correcting me on the joke, it's a pun where "ten tickles" sounds like "tentacles." The number ten is unrelated to the number of limbs - it's actually usually told about an octopus

[–] gofsckyourself 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Octopi have no tentacles, those are all arms!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

So wait, you're telling me that an octopus doesn't have tentacles at all?

My whole entire world (in regards to a small subset of cephalopods) has been turned upside down.

[–] gofsckyourself 2 points 4 hours ago

Yeah, I had the same feeling when I learned about that. It seems to be a common misnomer.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago

Wait wait wait...you have no idea how a squid would react if you tickled it. What if it freaked out and bit your nose off? First you need to cautiously do a test tickle

[–] [email protected] 7 points 21 hours ago

And here I was thinking it was just a fun username.

[–] satanmat 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] kamenlady 2 points 8 hours ago

Way back, i spent 1 day in my life really believing they do exist, until digging deeper exposed me to the sad truth.

[–] Hobbes_Dent 9 points 1 day ago

When the day gets late the Squid dons its little propellers and crosses the heavens squirting the night sky until the cuttlefish of day chases it forever westward.