I knew there’s a flying squid that likes to post memes though

If a squid swimming near the surface is spooked by a predator or a boat, it streamlines into a torpedo shape and fires itself out of the water. At the same time, it splays its eight tentacles into a flat, fan-like pattern in front of its face – some breeds even exude mucus to fill in the spaces, creating a unified, kite-like surface. It also flares a pair of fins near its rear end and – voilà – the squid becomes a living, breathing jet.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Yes indeed! See my response to Viking_Hippie about getting my username. It is due to this awesome fact.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I did know! One day many years ago (we’re talking 1990s here), I was talking to people on IRC and I said, “you know what would be awesome? If squid could fly.”

      And then I looked just for the hell of it and it turns out they can. I’ve been FlyingSquid ever since.

      I still think that’s one of the coolest things in nature.

      • happysplinter@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        This is an amazing origin story! Loved that you drop IRC. Paints a good picture of how long you’ve had the handle.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          I’m old and I’ve been on the internet since the pre-web days. First time I used the internet was when a friend showed me how to use a MUD in the local university computer labs, but I was still a high school freshman, so that would have been 1991-1992, somewhere in there. I remember thinking that this new web thing I saw would never be as good as Gopher. Oops.

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        I think you’re one of the coolest people in the fediverse … keep flying you crazy squid

        • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Are you one of the species that rips theirs off and hucks it at the female to prevent being eaten?

          Maybe I’m thinking of an octopus…

            • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Apparently I’ve been misled as the octopus I was thinking of, the argonaut, doesn’t actually have a detachable hectocotylus.

              Zefrank lied to me.

      • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 days ago

        That’s interesting, when I was a kid I remember always hearing that an octopus has eight tentacles and a squid has ten. I suppose ‘limbs’ might have been a more accurate descriptor.

        Oddly, I knew that cuttlefish have a distinction between arms and tentacles. I’m not in biology, but I always thought of them as tiny squid, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were related.

        If you’re correcting me on the joke, it’s a pun where “ten tickles” sounds like “tentacles.” The number ten is unrelated to the number of limbs - it’s actually usually told about an octopus

    • protist@mander.xyz
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      3 days ago

      Wait wait wait…you have no idea how a squid would react if you tickled it. What if it freaked out and bit your nose off? First you need to cautiously do a test tickle

  • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    When the day gets late the Squid dons its little propellers and crosses the heavens squirting the night sky until the cuttlefish of day chases it forever westward.

    • kamenLady.@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 days ago

      Way back, i spent 1 day in my life really believing they do exist, until digging deeper exposed me to the sad truth.