Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia
    Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia
    Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia
    Ebook231 pages1 hour

    Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia

    By Mark M. Norman and Amanda A. Reid

    1/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Australasian region is home to the greatest diversity of cephalopods — squid, cuttlefish, octopuses — in the world. Yet, we know very little about these fascinating marine animals.

    This book provides insights into the biology and behaviour of more than 60 species. From the Giant Squid to the deadly Blue-ringed Octopus, the secret lives of cephalopods are revealed in a highly readable form with outstanding colour images and informative text.

    For each species there is a distribution map and identification notes which summarise the main features to look for. While the book focuses on species found in relatively shallow coastal waters, a few of the more bizarre deeper-water species are included.

    Naturalists, divers, reef-walkers and anglers will find the book authoritative, yet very easy to use. A comprehensive section illustrating cuttlebones will enable beachcombers to identify most of the species they are likely to encounter.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCSIRO PUBLISHING
    Release dateMay 23, 2000
    ISBN9780643102613
    Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia

    Related to Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia

    Related ebooks

    Biology For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      No Fin Compares To You

      Aug 16, 2023

      No Fin Compares To You
      6 min read

    • Article

      Monster Mollusks

      Apr 1, 2024

      Monster Mollusks
      2 min read

    • Article

      Wonderful Whales

      Mar 31, 2022

      Wonderful Whales
      4 min read

    • Article

      How The Squid Lost Its Shell

      Jul 1, 2021

      How The Squid Lost Its Shell
      1 min read

    • Article

      Meet the LIVING FOSSILS

      Nov 28, 2019

      Meet the LIVING FOSSILS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Nov 16, 2023

      Q&A
      6 min read

    • Article

      Twilight Of The Nautilus: What the scientist who has studied the iconic sea creature for 45 years now sees.

      Dec 27, 2021

      Happy Holidays. In this special issue we are reprinting our top stories of the past year. This article first appeared online in our “Harmony” issue in August, 2021. We were all very tired. My crew and I had been tracking nautiluses off tiny Ndrova Is

      9 min read

    • Article

      Downward spiral

      Sep 28, 2022

      Downward spiral
      13 min read

    • Article

      Bells Shells

      Aug 1, 2017

      Bells Shells
      4 min read

    • Article

      Forever Young

      Oct 21, 2021

      Forever Young
      2 min read

    • Article

      March Of The Spider Crabs

      May 7, 2020

      March Of The Spider Crabs
      4 min read

    • Article

      Twilight Of The Nautilus

      Aug 11, 2021

      We were all very tired. My crew and I had been tracking nautiluses off tiny Ndrova Island in Papua New Guinea for close to a week. Every day we spent 16 hours on small dugout canoes and then got eight hours of fitful sleep on the deck of a Melanesian

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Great Barrier Reef

      Aug 1, 2023

      This is the biggest reef system in the world and at 348 700km² it makes up 10% of all coral reef ecosystems. It has 3 000 individual reefs, more than 400 coral species and 900 coral islands. More than 9 000 species of marine life inhabit its waters.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Gentle Giant

      Jul 2, 2020

      Gentle Giant
      6 min read

    • Article

      Mammoth Task

      Dec 16, 2021

      Mammoth Task
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Evolutionary Wonders in the Deep Sea

      Jun 30, 2021

      The deep sea is a part of our planet unlike any other. Accounting for over 95 percent of Earth’s living space, it is cold, dark, and under extreme pressure, yet an astounding variety of creatures abound. Although relatively little is known about the

      4 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Jan 12, 2023

      Q&A
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hidden Realms

      Jul 2, 2020

      Hidden Realms
      5 min read

    • Article

      Q&A: They Can Shrink, Glow And Stain Penguin Poop Pink. Why This Scientist Wants You To Love Krill

      Jun 3, 2018

      If you're like most people, you probably haven't given krill much thought. You've heard of them, of course. They're the small, shrimplike animals that live in great swarms in most of the world's oceans. You probably know that they're the primary food

      5 min read

    • Article

      Seashell secrets

      Jun 30, 2022

      Seashell secrets
      6 min read

    • Article

      Dreaming In The Key Of SEA

      Dec 2, 2020

      Dreaming In The Key Of SEA
      18 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia

    1/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopuses of Australasia - Mark M. Norman

      A Guide to

      Squid,

      Cuttlefish

      and Octopuses

       of Australasia

      ‘Squid’ (1996), acrylic on paper by Tatipai Barsa.

      A Guide to

      Squid,

      Cuttlefish

      and Octopuses

       of Australasia

      Mark Norman &

      Amanda Reid

      © 2000 Mark Norman and Amanda Reid First published 2000

      All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

      Set in 9.5/11pt Goudy

      Print in Australia by Impact Printing

      Cataloguing-in-Publication data

      Norman, Mark Douglas.

      Guide to squid, cuttlefish and octopus of Australasia.

      Bibliography.

      Includes index.

      ISBN 0 643 06577 6.

      1. Cuttlefish — Australia — Identification.

      2. Cuttlefish — Australasia — Identification.

      3. Octopus — Australia — Identification.

      4. Octopus — Australasia — Identification.

      5. Squids — Australia — Identification.

      6. Squids — Australasia — Identification.

      7. Cephalopoda — Australasia — Identification.

      I. Reid, Amanda Louise. II. Title.

      594.50994

      Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. However, should any infringement have occurred, the publishers tender their apologies and invite copyright owners to contact them.

      Published by:

      The Gould League of Australia

      Genoa Street

      Moorabbin

      Victoria 3189

      CSIRO PUBLISHING

      150 Oxford Street

      Collingwood

      Victoria 3066

      Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      What are cephalopods?

      Evolution of cephalopods

      Cephalopods today

      The main cephalopod groups

      NAUTILUS Chambered Nautiluses

      Chambered Nautiluses (Family Nautilidae)

      CUTTLEFISH, BOBTAIL SQUID AND THEIR ALLIES

      Ram’s Horn Squid (Family Spirulidae)

      Cuttlefish (Family Sepiidae)

      Bottletail Squid (Family Sepiadariidae)

      Bobtail Squid (Family Sepiolidae)

      Pygmy Squid (Family Idiosepiidae)

      SQUID

      Inshore Squid, Pencil Squid (Family Loliginidae)

      Giant Squid (Family Architeuthidae)

      Jewel Squid (Family Histioteuthidae)

      Comb-finned Squid (Family Ctenoptergidae)

      Arrow Squid (Family Ommastrephidae)

      Glass Squid (Family Cranchiidae)

      VAMPIRE SQUID

      Vampire Squid (Family Vampyroteuthidae)

      OCTOPUSES

      Deepsea Finned Octopuses (Family Opisthoteuthidae)

      Telescope Octopuses (Family Amphitretidae)

      Glass Octopuses (Family Vitreledonellidae)

      Benthic Octopuses (Family Octopodidae)

      Argonauts or Paper Nautiluses (Family Argonautidae)

      Football Octopuses (Family Ocythoidae)

      Blanket Octopuses (Family Tremoctopodidae)

      Cuttlebones — an identification guide

      References

      Glossary

      Index of species

      Acknowledgements

      This guide would not have been possible without the help of many people. Special thanks go to David Paul and Julian Finn for their skills, energy and excellent eyes.

      The senior author would like to acknowledge the funding support of the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) without which many of the animals here would not have been treated. We would also like to thank ABRS and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) for permission to use their illustrations. Artists were K. Nolan, K. Hollis, C. Eadie and H. Lewis, their excellent images being produced for Carpenter and Niem (1998) and Lu and Dunning (1998) (see References).

      Many thanks to the following people for allowing us to use their great images: R. Kuiter, R. Steene, M. Molloy, C. Bryce, A. Kerstitch, K. Reisenbichler, R. Young, S. Foale, C. Black, A. Lewis, G. Edgar, L. Reynolds, C. Griffith, R. Fenwick, C. Roper, M. Vecchione, A. Semini, Z. Florian, G. Williamson, B. Reid and G. Jackson.

      Many thanks to the artist, Tatipai Barsa for permission to include his picture ‘Squid’, made available courtesy of the Queensland Artworkers Alliance.

      The authors would finally like to acknowledge the help of J. Ahern, the staff of Museum Victoria, the Zoology department at Melbourne University, the many volunteers who assisted with field surveys, and the staff of the Marine Discovery Centre, Queenscliff.

      Mark Norman Amanda Reid

      (Photo: M Molloy)

      Introduction

      The group of animals known as cephalopods includes octopuses and their relatives — squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses. Most of us know little about the behaviour and biology of these creatures. We may see them in fish-markets, eat them in restaurants or occasionally watch them portrayed as ‘monsters of the deep’ in B-grade horror movies. Often we know them only from their distorted or partial remains washed up on a beach — bones of cuttlefish (commonly used to sharpen the beaks of cage birds) or a coiled Ram’s Horn shell. A regular beachcomber may be lucky enough to discover a delicate paper nautilus shell.

      In fact, cephalopods are as abundant as fish in the sea and humans have a long history of association with them. Pottery dated to 1500 BC and exquisite mosaics from the first century BC accurately portray octopus and squid found in the Mediterranean Sea. Many coastal cultures throughout the world have included these animals in their diets, daily lives and mythologies — and continue to do so. Calamari (squid) rings and tubes, and pickled or ‘baby’ octopuses are sold in fish-markets all around the world.

      The Australasian region (from southern Asia and New Guinea to Australia and New Zealand) has the greatest diversity of these animals in the world. This book will help you identify the cephalopods most likely to be found in this region. It covers most of the species found in relatively shallow waters, at depths of less than 100 metres. There are many more deeper-water species, and the book gives a few examples of these. Many cuttlebones washed up on beaches are from animals that live in deep water, so pictures of these have been included too.

      How much do you know about cephalopods? What is a cuttlebone for? How could one of these soft-bodied animals fashion something as beautiful as a paper nautilus shell? What sort of life did a squid lead before it became a calamari ring? What are blue-ringed octopuses really like? Is a giant squid likely to drag you out of your boat and into the ocean depths?

      Whether you are a naturalist, diver, beachcomber, reef-walker or an angler, we hope you find this book interesting and useful.

      Sightings of large octopuses or dying giant squid near the water’s surface may have led to

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1