Although many of the Pacific Ocean's big species are floundering, one large creature of the deep seems to be flourishing. The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas, also known as jumbo squid, owing to its sizable nature) has been steadily expanding its population and range: whereas sightings north of San Diego were rare 10 years ago, the squid are now found as far north as Alaska.

Many researchers attribute the squid's recent success to the very climate, current and oxygen-level changes that have been hurting populations of other species in the diverse California Current.

"I find their adaptability and their perfection in dealing with anything nature throws at them to be a remarkable feature," says William Gilly, a professor of biology at Stanford University whose lab has spearheaded much of the U.S. work on Humboldt squid. "They're able to explore and take advantage of new environments that are compromised in any way." And they can move quickly, says John Field, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Center, adding: "They're capable of very large migration patterns." Gilly's group recorded one squid that was tagged in Monterey, Calif., and last detected around Mexico 17 days later.

Humboldt squid are formidable predators, reaching about two meters in length and 50 kilograms, dwarfing the 30-centimeter-long California market squid (Loligo opalescens) that often end up as calamari. (Despite their outsize nickname, however, jumbo squid are not the largest cephalopod in the seas—that honor goes to the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, rare specimens of which have measured more than five times the size of most Humboldt squid.) But their impressive size is just one of the things about these squid that keep divers, fishers and scientists fascinated.

Despite their often-unnerving abundance recently in coastal waters and commercial fisheries alike, little is known about the lives of these prodigious creatures of the deep.

Although these large squid are thought to live for only a year or two, they emerge from an egg measuring about one millimeter long. To sustain such rapid growth they appear to have nearly endless appetites.

Hungry, hungry Humboldts
A growing mass of these hungry squid could have a large impact on some fish stocks, especially those that are already faltering.

"They can eat pretty much all they want," Gilly says, noting that researchers have found a range of meals inside the squid, ranging from tiny krill to 40-centimeter-long hake—and even some salmon remains. Humboldts have even been known to eat each other.

As evidence for their impact on U.S. fisheries continues to trickle in, their effect off in Chile, where the squid have been prevalent for much longer than most parts off the U.S. coast, has been more conspicuous: "There's very strong evidence that the squid expansion had a huge impact on the hake fisheries," says Field, who helped organize a symposium on the animal in 2007. "It looks like they're doing the same migration as hake, which concerns me."

The squid are making it harder to measure some fish populations, such as the hake. Humboldt are often found in and around hake schools and have a very similar sound signature as the fish, Field explains. So researchers who survey hake populations with hydroacoustics, which uses sound waves to detect and measure marine life, often get unusable data.

The squids' presence is also being felt in terrestrial food webs. With expanding ranges, there has been increasing interest in these squid among sportfishers of the U.S. west coast, and commercial fisheries for the squid are growing in Mexico, Chile and Peru. But humans are not the only land lovers that have begun sampling these squid. Both bears and wolves have been observed dining on Humboldt, likely from carcasses that have washed ashore, an occurrence that is only likely to increase with growing squid populations.

Continued research will help scientists understand more about what these squid are eating—and what's eating them—as well as where they are spending the majority of their time. "There's a lot of squid out there, and there's no reason they wouldn't be having an impact" on local ecosystems and food webs, Field says. And especially if the squids' range continues to expand, he adds: "I wouldn't rule out the potential for a huge impact."

11 Comments

1. 1. jaqcp 02:50 PM 4/8/10

   I am sure the pointless destruction of shark stocks also has a lot to do with this. When top level predators are removed, the middle predators devastate the lower tiers of the food chain.

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2. 2. frgough 11:17 AM 4/9/10

   So, basically what the article is saying is that squid are becoming a food staple and this is somehow bad.

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3. 3. brimartin10 12:17 PM 4/9/10

   Are they edible?

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4. 4. russ 02:07 PM 4/9/10

   What's mysterious about this story is the lack of mention of the obvious, number one factor in all ecology. That being the predator prey relationship. Since Humboldt squid, as little ones, are a primary prey for ocean fin fish, one would assume that any extension of population and range of Humboldt Squid proves there is some very big change with their predators - the fin fish.
   
   It's never about what eats the adults it what eats the young ones in nature. So as we know fin fish in the Eastern Pacific are at population levels that are small fraction of what they were decades ago. Further the ocean pastures of the Pacific, the phytoplankton, are known to be in catastrophic decline... 26% loss in 20 years in the N. Pacific, 50% loss in the tropical Pacific. ( NOAA and SCIENCE)
   
   So rather than conjure up some sketchy possible explanations... "KISS" it ... you know "Keep It Simple Stupid."
   
   Of course this is an unpopular point of view as it points the finger of blame not at the "pop usual suspects" but rather at the deadly CO2 bomb of a trillion tons already emitted and already disrupting the ocean ecosystem... NO this isn't about the new CO2 we are continuing to emit, which is to add more deadly doses of CO2 to the oceans.. the first dose is already deadly enough as the stunning expansion of Humboldt Squid illustrates. NO it also isn't about global warming. It's about the short term observed effects of vastly more squid which IS about too much CO2. Too much CO2 kills off ocean pastures and just as Walt Whitman said "all beef is grass" ... "all fish (ocean beef) is also grass (phytoplankton)!"
   
   The one and only means to deal with the existing carbon bomb is to restore the ocean pastures so that replenished and restored ocean plants will convert CO2 into life instead of it's current path where H2O+CO2 becomes H2CO3 (carbonic acid) and results in ocean plant and pasture decline.
   
   Fortunately 20 years of academic science at the expense of a quarter of a billion dollars has shown we can replenish and restore the ocean pastures. What is needed is not merely confessing our sins and promising to not repeat them in the future, as in emission reduction... Nor is it about talking about the tiny low oxygen zones when the squid are occupying new areas hundreds times larger than those zones. Nor any of the other 'pop usual suspects." It is "KISS"-ably obvious, it is about becoming responsible stewards of the pasture.
   
   Google for the immediately deployable, affordable, means to replenish and restore the ocean pastures... then lend a hand..

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5. 5. Wayne Williamson 02:34 PM 4/10/10

   russ...i agree...any links on the replenish and restore?
   in the mean time everyone get to liking calamari...just make sure the "claws" are removed;-)

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6. 6. GBristol 08:39 AM 4/12/10

   Russ - great comments, thanks.

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7. 7. GBristol 08:40 AM 4/12/10

   Russ - great comments, thanks.

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8. 8. Acoyauh 03:44 PM 4/12/10

   @ Russ - thanks for the comment, I generally agree, but could you be more specific on the R&R links?
   
   @ Brimartin10 - Yes, they are. And although a sufficiently profitable Humboldt-fihing industry can take care of them (and any other species) the point is still how and why the proliferate so much, and what other effects will those conditions have on the overall ecosystems.
   
   In the meantime, yeah, I'll have the calamari, please...
   

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9. 9. anonymousretiree 03:28 PM 4/14/10

   Very interesting article.
   One thing not mentioned is that squid and octopi have a cupric oxygen exchange mechanism. That is why their blood appears green (like Spock's in Star Trek) instead of red. Perhaps they are uniquely adapted for low oxygen environments, and this is as much or more responsible for their increasing numbers than a decline in the numbers of their predators. As the article states, their predators do not do as well in the growing dead-zones.
   
   With the decreasing levels of oxygen in the oceans, we may see a reversion to the type of animal life that prospered there before oxygen became more than a trace element in the atmosphere, about four hundred and fifty million years ago.

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10. 10. bucketofsquid 05:04 PM 4/15/10

    Hurray for Squidvolution! Squid will continue to expand and begin to evolve as they crowd out predators. Soon (well, millions of years most likely) Squidus Squidus Sapiens will inherit the world! Muwahahahaha!

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11. 11. bccnp1 08:42 PM 12/16/12

    Nature is a wonder for sure.
    Sad for sure.
    
    This little deer caught our attention.
    
    
    Bucky's Journey part 1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR7l_iWvnx4
    
    Bucky's Journey part 2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOjDUZD16f8
    
    
    Bucky's Journey Photo-essay
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Ke2HbGrB4

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