Something about cephalopods

I was right — the squid were ready to hatch!  I kept the capsules overnight and this morning when I checked on them I noticed a couple of tiny squid jetting around in the bowl!

 

If you look closely, you can see suckers on their tentacles, and small swimming fins on the other (dorsal) end.  

Below is another picture that shows the swimming fins.  The fins extend out to either side of the mantle (at the top of the photo).

Those of you who have been following this blog know how much I love chromatophores.  (For more about them, see the "Living Paint" post from 2 February 2013).  

So here's a photo highlighting the chromatophores in this squid paralarva.  This is the same individual as in the photo above.  But notice how large the chromatophores are now!  You can go back and forth between the photos and trace individual spots to see how much they've changed between photos.

 

I can't resist sharing one more picture — I don't know what it is, but there's just something about cephalopods that pulls me in.  They're beautiful, they're fascinating — I could watch them all day!