Internet version [Naruhodo no Mori] Vol.27

by Yumiko Mori

Vol. 27 March 15th, 1997

Squid Dissection

Home science experiments for mothers of elementary school children

Photograph Offer: Sankei Shimbun

Tae: "Mom, can we do another food experiment?"
Mom: "Well, we've already done cotton candy, Japanese sugar candy, and ice cream. I'm not sure if we can do another one."
Tae: "I really want to do another food experiment!"
Mom: "How about squid dissection? Then we can eat squid afterwards. How about that?"
Tae: "Yes, I want to do it!"
Mom: "Toshi, do you want to join?"
Toshi: "Dissecting squids? That sounds nasty!"
Mom: "Well. why don't you try?"
Toshi and Tae have decided to dissect squids.
Mom: "We've sharpened cutting knives, We are ready. We have a very fresh squid here."
Toshi: "Where shall I start cutting?"
Mom: "First, we have to observe from outside."
Toshi: "Is this its mouth?"
Mom: "No! That is called 'Siphon'. Squids spurt out sea water from there, and in return the propulsion pushes their bodies forward. It functions like a jet engine."
Toshi: "Does ink also come out from here?"
Mom: "Let's cut out the stomach. For cooking squids, I usually remove internal organs by pulling their legs. The legs drag the internal organs out of the body. It's quite different today. "
Tae: "Mom, what is this big flabby organ?"
Mom: "That is liver. I believe human liver is big as well."
Toshi: "What is this red one?"
Mom: "I guess that is stomach. But I don't know why it's so red. Maybe this squid ate something red."
Tae: "My squid's stomach looks strange."
Mom: "Oh, it's huge! It's very swollen!"
Toshi: "Probably you squid is always hungry. Just like you, Tae!" (laughing)
Tae: "Mind your own business!"
As Tae complained, she was picking the squid eyes.
Tae: "What is this?"
Mom: "That must be lens. Let's wash it!"
Tae: "Oh! This looks pretty!"
Mom: "Amazingly pretty!"

Toshi: "We finished dissection, Mom! What are you going to do with these squids? Are we eating these?"
Mom: "Yes, you guessed right. You can help me on the preparation. Just peel skin and cut the mantle."
Toshi: "For Mom, this experiment has dual purpose."
Soon after, we found Tae happily eating the squid sashimi she had prepared herself.

Materials

Squids (Fresh as possible)
Chopping boards
Kitchen Knives

A book describing about the anatomy of squid.

Squid dissection

Required time: 15 min

Place a squid on a chopping board and observe from outside.

Eyes
10 tentacles
Fins, body (mantle), and siphon

Cut with a knife to open the body. Inspect inside.

Liver and ink sack
Rectum; where does waste come out?
Stomach; what did the squid eat?

pancreas
Two gills, heart, and ovary

Open up head and inspect inside.

Mouth: You will find 'beak'.

Eyes You can isolate a beautiful lens from an eye, if you peel off.
Brain Just below eyes, white color

* Be very careful when you handle a kitchen knife.

* We dissected a squid for the second time and discovered parts we had overlooked initially.

* Squid ink was used as pen ink many years ago. Today in Japan squid ink is used for cooking.

* Generally squids live for one year. Male squids die after mating, while females die after spawning.
Because of their fins, squids can stop and move backward. Octopus can not do this.

Reference

www.iusb.edu/~aschnabe/lab102_10.html

Is dissection scary?

I started reading about dissection. I learned medical students dissect one human body for two months. I guess because a human body is bigger and more complicated. To me even a squid looked quite complicated. It must be quite scary to dissect a human body. To me it wasn't so scary to dissect a squid. I am used to see dead squids on supermarkets, but I am not used to see dead human body. But I realized the squids we dissected were once alive. I also realized we are living by eating once living organisms.

Author	Yumiko Mori (Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan)
Illustration	Mitsue Ogata
Translator	Akira Ishihara
HTML format	Muneo Kume