Post by Marine on Feb 4, 2016 1:08:19 GMT
A cephalopod is any mollusc belonging to the class Cephalopoda! They have bilateral body symmetry, a well-defined head/body (or "mantle), and many tentacles that have developed from the single "foot" that many molluscs have. They have very good senses, are often quite intelligent and social, and nearly all of them have chromatophores, which allows them to change color or pattern. All of them are carnivores, and nearly all of them, barring nautiluses and a few octopus species, use ink in self-defense.
In Splatoon, the most common cephalopods you see will be inklings (order Teuthida) and octolings (order Octopoda)! But, because of the fact that they're surrounded by other sea creatures such as sea urchins, jellyfish and shrimp, we can safely assume that all manner of cephalopods have evolved the capability to take on humanoid forms so that they may step foot on land.
The world of cephalopods is extremely diverse -- there are at least 800 different living species known! Color, size, behavior and unique abilities vary hugely across different species, which can make for really interesting additions to a character.
You might be an Inkling, but what kind of Inkling are you? Are you a sparkling firefly squid, or an acrobatic Japanese flying squid? If you're an Octoling, are you a precious little flapjack octopus, or perhaps a creative and tricky mimic octopus? Or maybe you're something else entirely! The ocean's full of wonderful and alien creatures, after all.
Species might influence appearance, abilities, even personality, so go wild!
II. Squids
In the Splatoon universe, all sapient squids fall under the inkling species, which you can learn more about here.
Pictures are a work in progress!
- Bigfin Reef Squid
Found on the east Asian and African coasts, the bigfin reef squid is a medium-sized squid with a large oval fin on its mantle, or central body. They have large, bright eyes and dark streaked markings, but they can change color and pattern very easily. They're also iridescent under the light! Bigfin reef squid are also extremely social, schooling in large groups, and have rather intricate social interactions.
- Bigfin Squid
Bigfin squid are rather alien-like: they have extremely long legs, which may be more than 10 times longer than their mantle! They're very mysterious, and so far have only been found quite deep in the ocean. What might they use those super long legs for?
- Caribbean Reef Squid
Closely related to the Bigfin Reef Squid, the Caribbean Reef Squid is an extremely colorful, oval-shaped squid with long fins that hang down the sides of its mantle. Living in big groups, they communicate by changing color and pattern. They are also quite good at flying super jumping, with one individual having been recorded at jumping from the water and soaring for 33 feet.
- Colossal Squid
Colossal squid are one of the ocean's most fearsome creatures: with tentacles included, they can grow to at least 35 feet long and weigh in at up to 1,650 pounds! Their eyes are as large as dinner plates, and they have large hooks on their hunting tentacles, which allow them to hunt and defend themselves against predators like whales. Also fairly mysterious, they live solitary lives in the depths of the ocean.
- Deepsea Squid
Deepsea squid are small, red in color, and quite adorable! They live extremely deep in the ocean, typically found starting at depth of 2,300 feet. Everything about them is petite: their bodies, their tentacles, even their gills.
- European Squid
Also known as the "common squid", these are a pleasant species of squid that can change to warmer colors from their usual grays and browns! They are slim and cylindrical, and seem to have large triangular fins that are purely for show.
- Fire Squid
Fire squids, or family Pyroteuthidae, have pale coloring with brighter orange-ish markings here and there, giving them a fiery look! Photophores are present even on their eyeballs, and they're quite talented with manipulating light, so this is barely surprising. They're widespread, but seem to be quite common around the Hawaiian islands.
- Firefly Squid
Found in the Western Pacific ocean, the firefly squid is known well for its fantastic abilities in making their entire bodies light up in a soft blue color! They use this trick to both lure prey close and to flirt with others. They spend much of the day deep underwater, but during the night, they come up to the surface.
- Glacial Squid
Glacial squid are named for where they tend to live: they brave the cold depths of the coast of Antarctica! A pinkish-red in color, they lack photophores, but are quite striking all the same. They're one of the only cephalopods that live in large numbers in the seas of Antarctica, too.
- Glass Squid
The glass squids, family Cranchiidae, is a very curious squid, being quite transparent even as adults. With large bodies and smaller tentacles, their lack of pigmentation is not the only neat thing about them: many have eyes on weird stalks, and all of them have a special organ for buoyancy!
- Humboldt Squid
One of the larger non-abyssal squid species, Humboldt squid are fearsome contenders. Growing to the size of five to six feet, they spend much of their life in large groups and hunt in a coordinated manner. One of their favorite strategies is swiftly flashing different colors, often red and white, in order to startle and hypnotize their prey. Thankfully, they're usually only aggressive towards their future meals, and are more curious than anything else towards new things.
- Hooked Squid
Made up of 20-odd species, family Onychoteuthidae or the "hooked squids" are noted for having sharp hooks on only their hunting tentacles. If a fast and many-armed predator wasn't scary enough, imagine one with chitinous talons like that! One species, the Robust hooked squid, can get longer than six feet, leading to one being mistaken for a giant squid at least once!
- Japanese Flying Squid
A fairly small and sleek squid, the Japanese flying squid are well-known for their leaping ability. They jump to move faster, to evade predators, and to save energy -- and they truly "fly", actually partaking in specific behaviors mid-air as to prolong their time above the water! They're one of the more common squid species that populate Inkopolis.
- Neon Flying Squid
One of the close relatives of the Japanese flying squid, the neon flying squid, or akaika, is named for its shimmering red and silver coloration. Also quite capable of emerging from the water with powerful force, they seem to fly more often during storms. Occasionally, a flying squid might end up flying onto the deck of a nearby ship.
- Opalescent Inshore Squid
Pleasant to the eye, the opalescent inshore squid spends its entire life rather close to the beach, rarely straying more than 200 miles from the shore. Despite their name, they're not always a pearly gold-and-white; they may change blue, gray, or even red depending on their mood! They're also quite a ferocious predator, even if they don't get very big.
- Strawberry Squid
III. Octopuses
The octopus is a cephalopod with eight powerful tentacles, known well for its brilliant adaptive capabilities. Unlike the squid and cuttlefish, the octopus has absolutely no internal skeleton bar its chitinous beak, and it also has a potent venom that it uses to subdue its prey. While not very social in nature, they are extremely intelligent.
In the Splatoon universe, all sapient octopuses fall under the octoling species, which you can learn more about here.
Pictures will come soon!
- Argonaut Octopus
Argonauts are quite interesting for the octopus family, and you might mistake an adult female for a nautilus at first! A large-eyed, warmly-colored octopus, they spend most of their time near the surface of the ocean. Perhaps their most defining trait is that the mothers of the species will create a shell-like egg-case to carry their children around in until they're ready to hatch.
- Blanket Octopus
They're well-named, really -- the blanket octopus has strange tentacles that have long, transparent webs of skin between them, giving them the appearance of a free-floating blanket with eyes and a beak. Blanket octopuses are also very resourceful, being well known in their use of man-o-war jellyfish tentacles as defensive weapons.
- Blue-Ringed Octopus
The blue-ringed octopus is a shining example of how appearances can be deceiving. They're small, pastel yellow in color with blue and black rings covering their bodies, and are honestly quite adorable... except for the fact that they are extremely venomous. It's no surprise that they come from Australia.
- Coconut Octopus
The coconut octopus is a very inventive creature indeed! Small and swift, they have little natural defenses besides their own cunning.. but perhaps that's enough to work for them. When moving from place to place, they will gather empty coconut shells (or something similar) and use it as a sort of "house" that they protect their soft bodies with! If you're in need of a laugh, be sure to look up videos of them.
- Deepwater Octopus
Not unlike their far-off cousin, the Vampire squid, the family of deepwater octopuses, known formally as Stauroteuthis, live quite far beneath the ocean's surface. In the dark, miles-deep depths, it might be hard to see: but fear not! The deepwater octopus is the one of only true octopus species that is bioluminescent. Supposedly, they attract their prey with their glowing photophores. Maybe they talk to each other that way, too?
- Flapjack Octopus
The flapjack octopus is tiny, adorable, and actually not all that dangerous! An orange-red in color, they also call the deeper parts of the ocean home, where they float and wiggle through the darkness in pursuit of tasty fish. Even as adults, they remain small and squishy.
- Giant Pacific Octopus
One of the more famous octopus species, the Giant Pacific octopus is also one of the largest, with records suggesting they can reach over 150lbs. Dark red in hue but able to change color quite easily, they are powerful and resourceful creatures by nature. A single one of their large suckers can hold up to 35 pounds, and they will actively hunt small sharks!
- Mimic Octopus
Covered in black and white stripes, the mimic octopus looks as if it just escaped from a jail. This wouldn't be too far from the truth, as they're very capable of disguising themselves, being able to change color, texture and pattern. Their understanding of other animals is also fantastic, as they will actively swim like a jellyfish or act like a crab when it benefits them.
- Ruby Octopus
Not the most creative name, but it definitely suits the colorful red and yellow hues of this octopus. Petite and quick, they look like young versions of the Giant Pacific octopus, but their ruffled appearance and mastery of texture-changing makes them a bit different! Of course, they're just as fearsome and opportunist as their larger relative.
- Telescope Octopus
IV. Cuttlefish & Others
Pictures will, of course, be coming soon.
Bobtail Squid & Cuttlefish:
- Bobtail Squid (Sepiolida):
Closely related to the cuttlefish family, the bobtail squid is a cephalopod family of small size, bright colors, and a unique light-producing organ that allow them to camoflaudge in light from overhead. They possess only eight arms, with no unique feeding tentacles, and would look rather like tiny octopuses if not for the cute little fins on their head!
- Common Cuttlefish
The cuttlefish looks quite like a squid, but is differentiated by its unique internal bone structure, the cuttlebone, and the fact that their feeding tentacles are usually not much longer than their others, giving them a rather compact look. Almost all species of cuttlefish are extremely talented at changing color, pattern and texture, and their smarts make them even trickier customers!
- Flamboyant Cuttlefish
These cuttlefish live up to their name: they are lavishly colorful and covered in frills, often bright shades of red and yellow in hue. Ill-suited to floating, they spend much of their time slowly walking across the ocean floor, but they don't fear predators too much, as their muscles are naturally very toxic if consumed.
- Pharoah Cuttlefish
A cuttlefish of cool colors. Named for their graceful looks and appearances in the seas surrounding Egypt, they linger a little deeper in the ocean than many cephalopods, and tend to grow active at night.
- Striped Pajama Squid
Despite its name, the Striped Pajama squid is actually a cuttlefish. A petite and beautiful species, they are covered in vertical black stripes, giving them an entertaining similarity to striped nightwear. They seem to be a bit shy by nature, often burying themselves in the sand so they can hide from predators and ambush prey.
As of the modern day, most nautilus species have been lost to history, having gone extinct even before the first humans appeared. They have a rich background with many relatives of different sorts, but now very few remain. Even now, they are called "living fossils", because the surviving species are quite similar to their long-lost relatives!
The nautilus is the only cephalopod with a distinct external shell: they have a striped brown-and-white shell that protects much of their body, with their eyes, mouths and tentacles emerging from the large opening. They have many tentacles, sometimes even up to ninety or more, which are smooth and lack sucker-pads but are quite good at manipulating objects. Two of their tentacles linger near their eyes, and are used specifically for picking up scent. Because their eyesight is poor, they use their strong sense of smell to navigate most of the time.
They have no external fins, and their tentacles are slender, so they use jet propulsion to get around. However, they lack ink, so they're naturally incapable of super jumping. One advantage they do have over other cephalopods, however, is their amazing longevity. They only start to truly become adults at the age of 15 years!
Vampire Squids:
Contrary to their name, the vampire squid is neither a squid nor a vampire. In fact, they are a unique species all their own that are part of the Octopodiformes superorder, which includes octopuses and an extinct species of squid-like cephalopod.
Small and maroon in color, the vampire squid calls the darkness of the deep ocean its home. They do not suck blood, but are instead named for their fearsome appearance, having soft spines on their tentacles as well as long cape-like webbing that is red on the outside edge and black on the inside. They are scavengers by nature, and will consume any drifting chunks of plant or animal matter they might find, which are easily gathered up in the two sticky "strings" that they have instead of the feeding tentacles of a squid.
They move mostly by means of the small, ovoid fins on their bodies, slowly flying through the water with little effort. While they cannot change their body color or texture, the vampire squid has small, glowing baubles on the tips of their tentacles, which they flash a bright blue for communication to friends and foes alike. They lack true ink, but have a sticky mucus that glows a similar neon blue as their tentacle-tips. This glow can last up to 10 minutes, and is often used as a distraction so they can make a smooth escape from predators.
Because of their cold and dark homes, they have slow and laidback lives, surviving just fine in areas where many other species would suffocate from the lack of oxygen. Their squishy bodies are quite buoyant, allowing them to comfortably drift about!
But, because of the difficulty in finding them, they still have many mysteries about the intricacies of their lives.
All photos are free use, and are credit to their respective sources.
If there is a cephalopod species or family here that you do not see in here, or some other suggestion that you think would be cool to add, send me a message!
