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Squids Digestive System: Squids have complicated digestive systems. First of all, they are carnivores, so their diet consists of small fish, crabs, and shrimp. Secondly, they have a beak inside the mouth which is a main digestive organ. The squid eats food that is broken down while salivary enzymes start the digestive process. Then the food travels down the esophagus which connects the mouth to the stomach. It then travels to the stomach where it is stored and receives digestional juices to help break the food down. In the cecum, the food is filtered where the nutritive parts are kept for the body to use. Indigestible foods move on to the next stage. The remainings of the food like shells and bones go through the small intestine and into the anus. The food then exits the squid through a fold in the mantle where the anus is located.
Squids Life Stages: "Male squids store packets of sperm called spermatophores in specialized long arms, which penetrate the female’s mantel during a mating session that lasts just 15 seconds. Squids usually spawn in groups and females release up to 11 pounds of eggs. Most squids lay their eggs in masses on the sea floor, but some carry a clutch of eggs in their arms to guard them. Adult squids don't live long after mating. Baby squids hatch as larvae and grow into maturity in about three to five years. Marine biologists believe that short finned squids don't live any longer than 12-18 months. Spawning females release about 100,000 eggs, and most hatch in about two weeks. The hatchlings progress first to the larval, next to the juvenile and then to the squid stage. They usually live three to five years" -taken from https://sciencing.com/life-cycle-squid-5813188.html Squids Ecosystem: "Squid species are common all over the world in such numbers that there is a thriving squid fishing industry. Squid numbers are a good indicator of water quality, because squids leave polluted water to congregate in cleaner water." taken from https://sciencing.com/life-cycle-squid-5813188.html |