Squid caring for eggs
2005/12/15 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa
Squids usually deposit them at the bottom of the sea after laying. However, they have seen that it carries the squid of the species Gonatus onys in arms to protect them. And they are not one or two: are thousands of eggs!
This species of squid is common in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, although it had never been seen carrying a group of eggs. For predators, squid is even more precious if it carries eggs, so they descend to great depths where there are fewer predators.
Brad Seibel and his team at the University of Rhode Island have caught Gonatus onys protecting the egg bag, seeing five squids with two or three thousand eggs each. They have taken the opportunity to obtain these spectacular images and record them in video. They used a remote controlled submarine.
In one of the videos the squid escapes, but in the other you see the eggs closely.
Photo and videos: MBARI
