On the Giant Octopus (Octopus giganteus) and the Bermuda Blob: Homage to A. E. Verrill
| Autor: | Timothy K. Maugel, Sidney K. Pierce, G. N. Smith, E. Clark |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0303 health sciences Ecology food and beverages Zoology Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 03 medical and health sciences Octopus Poikilotherm Collagen fiber biology.animal Gross morphology 14. Life underwater General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Mantle (mollusc) Electron microscopic 030304 developmental biology Invertebrate |
| Zdroj: | The Biological bulletin. 188(2) |
| ISSN: | 1939-8697 |
| Popis: | We have obtained samples of two large carcasses. One washed up on a beach in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1896 and has been occasionally attributed to a species of gigantic octopus (Octopus giganteus). The other carcass washed up on Bermuda in 1988 and has remained unidentified, although its gross morphology, except for a much smaller total mass, was remarkably similar to the Florida carcass. We have subjected both samples to electron microscopic and biochemical analyses. Our results show that both carcasses are masses of virtually pure collagen. Furthermore, neither sample has the biochemical characteristics of invertebrate collagen, nor the collagen fiber arrangement of octopus mantle. Instead, they are large pieces of vertebrate skin, the Bermuda sample from a poikilotherm and the Florida sample from a huge homiotherm. We conclude that there is no evidence to support the existence of Octopus giganteus. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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