Fiend Without a Face

Jackalope · Post by **Jackalope** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:20 am

There was on mutant cuttlefish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium that lived two years. And was about twice the size of all the others. They named him "Bubba." We actually thought he was really one of the Great Old Ones, given his size and the fact that he kept outliving all the other cuttlefish...

R_Karandosh · Post by **R_Karandosh** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:47 am

Oddly enough, "Fiend Without a Face" came up in conversation at my family's pre-Christmas Christmas party. Okay, my cousin was talking about the 1958 British horror movie with the bodiless brain monsters, also called "Fiend Without a Face" but I couldn't get this comic out of my mind during the conversation. Then he brings up the fact that it used its dangling spinal cord to wrap around its victim, tentacle fasion. I started to wonder if my cousin is a forum member, or at least had seen the comic.

All this while the folks are sitting there rolling their eyes at the boring movie trivia. Does anyone else get "Ghastly Moments" at inopportune times?

Squidflakes · Post by **Squidflakes** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:55 am

Mel Wong wrote:The cuttles in the petting pool of an aquarium I visited loved to play

Most cuttles love to play. Even cuttles in the wild will play if you approach them slowly and let them get accustomed to your presence.

- sometimes kids'd leave litter in the pool, and they'd have great fun blowing the bottle caps and whatnot around with jets of water from their beaks.

At the NRCC (National Resource Center for Cephalopods) wed fill plastic film cans with sand until they were neutrally bouyent, then seal the tops and throw them into the adult cuttle tank. They would play with those things for HOURS!
As a note, the water jet comes from the siphon, not the beak. The sipon on a cuttle fish is located on the bottom of the animal, and can swivel 360 degrees.

That and if you didn't make to grab them, just stuck your hand in and waited, they'd change the colors on their mantles and then embrace your fingers, like a tentacled handshake.

The color change was either a dimantic dot pattern that was a completely autonomic reaction to proximity. They form two large eye spots in an effort to confuse predators. Or the cuttle did a zebra in order to see if you were a competitive male. Either way, they are curious and love to feel out non-threatening things. That's also how they mate too. It looks like two cuttles got tangled up in one another.

I always felt it was a pity cuttles, squiddies and octopi lived only six months or so. engineer them with extended lifespans and prepackage the seed stock with the perfect tank setup, and they'd make the perfect apartment pets.

- Mel

Depending on the species and temprature of the water, cuttles can live up to two years. Squid go from 6 months to 10 years (only the giant and humboldt squid live that long) octopuses from 3 months to 3 years. The colder the water, the longer lived the cephalopod. There have been some life extension experements but its more a eugenics thing than a genetics thing. The cuttles we raised at the NRCC were 14th generation captive bread and were 40% larger on average than wild cuttles and lived about 50% longer.

Squidflakes · Post by **Squidflakes** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:59 am

R_Karandosh wrote:
All this while the folks are sitting there rolling their eyes at the boring movie trivia. Does anyone else get "Ghastly Moments" at inopportune times?

At work a couple of weeks ago

Head of US Operations: "Sqiuddy, I need you to fix this thing that's broken. I need it fixed right now."

Me: "I'm on it! Like an octopus on a Japanese school girl."

Head: "*sputter* *cough* Uh.. ok"

Tellner · Post by **Tellner** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:01 pm

RavenxDrake wrote:Where's the Queue for the Lagamorphs start?

We'll pay you to take Bunny Boy

WhatMeWorry? · Post by **WhatMeWorry?** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:07 pm

tellner wrote:
RavenxDrake wrote:Where's the Queue for the Lagamorphs start?
We'll pay you to take Bunny Boy

In which way?

RavenxDrake · Post by **RavenxDrake** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:16 pm

R_Karandosh wrote:
Oh, wait. You meant ... OH! You're a lagomorphile! Oops. Sorry. Disregard.

Actually, I think he meant Lupine, as in wolf. Or horribly ineffecient floral monetary unit. One or the other.

Lagomorphs are rabbits, hares, and pikas. And I have nothing against Bunny Boy, but I want Bunny GIRLS.

And all this talk of vulpines and pikas reminds me of the dirtiest thing I've ever heard in Pokemon. Brock, speaking to a woman, stammered a few things, and finished with "...Wow, your Vulpix is nice."

Now, Vulpix is a Fox type pokemon, which she had, and was therefore completely innocent.

Except that Brock said it.

To a Girl.

Making it the worlds filthiest come on line.

Irish Witch · Post by **Irish Witch** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:08 am

jackalope wrote:There was on mutant cuttlefish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium that lived two years. And was about twice the size of all the others. They named him "Bubba." We actually thought he was really one of the Great Old Ones, given his size and the fact that he kept outliving all the other cuttlefish...

We had what we thought was a mutant goldfish once. We bought him as a goldfish.... Only he turned out to be a corrie carpe!

Mel Wong · Post by **Mel Wong** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:55 am

squidflakes wrote:Either way, they are curious and love to feel out non-threatening things. That's also how they mate too. It looks like two cuttles got tangled up in one another.

See, playing with the cuttles is why I don't eat squid/calamari/octopus. It isn't the fact that I don't like the taste, since it's pretty common in coastal Chinese cuisine and is pretty good. Just that I prefer them alive and playful. <3s to the cuttles.

AkaneJones · Post by **AkaneJones** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:19 am

RavenxDrake wrote:And all this talk of vulpines and pikas reminds me of the dirtiest thing I've ever heard in Pokemon. Brock, speaking to a woman, stammered a few things, and finished with "...Wow, your Vulpix is nice."

Now, Vulpix is a Fox type pokemon, which she had, and was therefore completely innocent.

Except that Brock said it.

To a Girl.

Making it the worlds filthiest come on line.

Ah yes his brillant voice acting is what makes the English version of Pokemon work. Yes both Brock and James if you don't belive me watch the first few episodes where he doesn't voice James and Brock ain't around, can you say dry.

Lancustran · Post by **Lancustran** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:25 am

R_Karandosh wrote:
Lancustran wrote:I want to take an order out on a harem of lapine women
No you DON'T! Man, I used to visit LaPine, Oregon USA on business and a worse selection of in-bred womanhood would be hard to find! I swear, cowboy women sound sexy, but the truth is as ugly as an ill-used spitoon. Stay away from LaPine, or any other western Oregon town ...

Oh, wait. You meant ... OH! You're a lagomorphile! Oops. Sorry. Disregard.

Lapine'd be considered Eastren Oregon by most here as its on the Eastren side of the mountain range. There's nothing worthwhile or heavily developed out there, incliuding the people.

-Lancustran, who hails from Portland, Oregon

EDIT: And I did mean Lapine, not Lupine, RavenxDrake.

Squidflakes · Post by **Squidflakes** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:48 am

Mel Wong wrote:See, playing with the cuttles is why I don't eat squid/calamari/octopus. It isn't the fact that I don't like the taste, since it's pretty common in coastal Chinese cuisine and is pretty good. Just that I prefer them alive and playful. <3s to the cuttles.

All <3 to the cuttles. I can't eat octopus or cuttlefish after studying and playing with them. I went for sushi with a couple of friends a number of years ago, about a week after the pictures that I'm linking were taken, and I kid you not when I say I burst in to tears when I started chewing on a piece of octopus. I couldn't finish it, and I have never eaten octopus again. Squid I can eat. Mostly because EVERYTHING eats squid, even other squid.
You're be suprised how much octopus and squid goes in to costal mexican dishes, something we have in abundance here.

And now the pics. Here is a shot of one of the greatest days in my life.
http://www.prairiesquid.com/gallery/gpo ... /octopus13

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:01 am

Squid is super yummy. My wife makes this killer spicey calamari.

Nithos · Post by **Nithos** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:17 pm

Lapine'd be considered Eastren Oregon by most here as its on the Eastren side of the mountain range. There's nothing worthwhile or heavily developed out there, incliuding the people.

-Lancustran, who hails from Portland, Oregon

You beat me to it.

I was going to say something to the same effect, as I'm living in Gresham, Oregon now, and grew up in waaaaay eastern Oregon, nearly Idaho (La Grande and Ontario, OR). La Grande was a little diamond in the sand, since it had a college it was relativly civilized for a city in eastern Oregon, but the Mason-Dixon line makes a sharp turn to vertical and splits Oregon right down the mountain range when it gets this far west

Goddessmisca · Post by **Goddessmisca** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 4:11 pm

squidflakes wrote: And now the pics. Here is a shot of one of the greatest days in my life.
http://www.prairiesquid.com/gallery/gpo ... /octopus13

Heh, I remeber that pic...and I also rember hte shots of your octapus induced hickeys...no wonder it was a good day.

Marked by teh tentacle love.

R_Karandosh · Post by **R_Karandosh** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:13 pm

Lancustran wrote:Lapine'd be considered Eastren Oregon by most here as its on the Eastren side of the mountain range. There's nothing worthwhile or heavily developed out there, incliuding the people.

-Lancustran, who hails from Portland, Oregon

Aw heck! Sorry, I got a touch dyslexic there. Thanks to you and Nithos for pointing that out. Perhaps it's because I grew up in Bend myself, and must be a bit underdeveloped. (Tee hee)

For you non-Oregonians, yes we have towns with funny names. Bend, Sisters, Brothers, LaPine, and many more.

Tellner · Post by **Tellner** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:12 am

Mel Wong wrote:See, playing with the cuttles is why I don't eat squid/calamari/octopus. It isn't the fact that I don't like the taste, since it's pretty common in coastal Chinese cuisine and is pretty good. Just that I prefer them alive and playful. <3s to the cuttles.

Likewise. I really liked Mediterranean calamari and marinated octopus until my wife took me scuba diving. After that I just couldn't. Well, that and they aren't kosher.

The first person who makes a joke about liking octopus Greek style gets the sandpaper personal relaxation device

WhatMeWorry? · Post by **WhatMeWorry?** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 3:26 pm

tellner wrote:
Mel Wong wrote:See, playing with the cuttles is why I don't eat squid/calamari/octopus. It isn't the fact that I don't like the taste, since it's pretty common in coastal Chinese cuisine and is pretty good. Just that I prefer them alive and playful. <3s to the cuttles.
Likewise. I really liked Mediterranean calamari and marinated octopus until my wife took me scuba diving. After that I just couldn't. Well, that and they aren't kosher.

The first person who makes a joke about liking octopus Greek style gets the sandpaper personal relaxation device

ROWL!

8)

Jackalope · Post by **Jackalope** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:06 am

squidflakes wrote:
That and if you didn't make to grab them, just stuck your hand in and waited, they'd change the colors on their mantles and then embrace your fingers, like a tentacled handshake.
The color change was either a dimantic dot pattern that was a completely autonomic reaction to proximity. They form two large eye spots in an effort to confuse predators. Or the cuttle did a zebra in order to see if you were a competitive male. Either way, they are curious and love to feel out non-threatening things. That's also how they mate too. It looks like two cuttles got tangled up in one another.

So did either of you learn any of the typical cuttlefish gestures? Besides "I don't like you!" when they curl all their tentacles up, that is. There's one that I've seen reproduced on videotape and shown to the cuttlefish and they still respond to it. Most of the tentacles hang down, and two out front sort of coyly cross over (think of crossing your fingers) and gently rub up and down. It's a greeting, they think. Anyway, I've made that same gesture with my hands standing next to the cuttlefish tank, and the cuttles immediately respond to it. "Hi! Hi!" That's how I got Bubba to come over to the side of the tank, come to think of it...

Squidflakes · Post by **Squidflakes** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:50 am

The gesture you witnessed is actually a nifty little study in small colony social evolution. First off, the gesture isn't a greeting, its a very mild territorial challenge, just enough to let the other cuttles know that you aren't going to take any crap. In the wild, this gesture is made with the two top arms lifted and bent at the tips, making a V with its top ends curled down to point at the recipient of the message.

All of the cuttles in the NRCC tanks (where that thing you watched was filmed) cross their arms when they make this guesture, and we have no idea why. It started happening right around Generation 5, and only adult cuttles that make it to the adult tank make the gesture. There are papers in the works about this phenomon, but no good conculsions so far.

Just about every aquarium in the US, and some abroad that have cuttles have gotten them from the NRCC. Apparently we breed 'em sweet and docile