Squid dissection

The Purpose and goals of this dissection is to closely examine the anatomy of a squid.  This dissection relates to what i am learning in class because visually, it shows me up close where the body parts are supposed to be placed.  I thought the ink sac would be exposed with the ventral side up but it turns out that it is actually hidden in between the stomach.  Overall this lab has definitely been helpful to my understanding of a squid.  However i don't think i will be eating squid anytime soon now that i know what i have actually been eating.  The only exception is calamari.


External Anatomy questions

1. A squid has eight arms and two tentacles

2. The tentacles are used to pull an organism in the arm so that the arms are able to pull it inside its radial or beak.

3.

The black lines indicate the direction that the water comes out of the funnel and the direction that the squid moves.

4. Two external features that are adaptations for the squid's predatory life are the suction cups and the fins. The suction cup allows the squid to stick onto surfaces and help catch prey easier while the fins help it to smoothly cut through water which allows better movement.

5. Two traits that the squid share with mollusks are the tentacle and the presence of a mantle.


Internal Anatomy questions

1. A squid has 4 gills.  Two on the left and two on the right.

2. The ink sac empties through the siphon and its functions are to blind and disable a predator.  It is mostly used as a form a defense.

3. The function of the pen serves as the support of the squid's mantle and a site of muscle attachment.  Without the pen the squid wouldn't have the support to keep its normal shape.

4. The waste exits through the anus of the squid which is located at the middle of the body.

A picture of what a squid's internal anatomy may look like.

Fungus Trip

 Last Friday my class and I went toe the trail near our school to examine many forms of fungi. During the Fungi trip, I encountered many forms of fungi such as the club fungi which consists of rusts, toadstools, puffballs, bracket fungus, and jelly fungus.  The pictures below are not the identical ones that i encountered at school but are a visual example of what i saw.  The purpose of this trip was to expose our class the abundance of fungi in the forest.  At first i thought that i wouldn't find a single form of fungi but it turns out i was wrong.  Every Tree, and every leaf had some kind of fungi growing on it and i found this to be really cool.  What i learned in class was that Fungi spores could grow anywhere as long as the conditions are right. This is true in the forest because it is both warm and moist normally and those are the conditions that are needed to grow fungi.  Overall this experience was pretty interesting and refreshing.