Big Squid

The frog is certainly real, as I've seen ones like it in Africa. I don't doubt the squid pictures, either, although the largest one I've ever personally seen was probably three feet long. The horseshoe crab (it isn't a stingray like the picture claims), though, I do wonder about. I'll have to look into how big they get.

I would believe these are real, i mean we've explored 1% of the ocean so far.
The possiblities are ENDLESS. ^^ so cool, the giant squid

Yes, that is so not a stingray. I can't believe they got the name wrong. That is a horseshoe crab. But, wow, the size surprises me and I thought those at the beach were pretty big.

From what I've been able to find out, the largest species of horseshoe crab is usually only 24 inches (about 60 centimetres) long. That's only the normal size, though, so they could get larger. Even so, that one in the picture is considerably larger than 24 inches long.

I'm ready to believe that the giant squid is for real, although the eye looks a bit strange on the second picture. But this kind of critter, though elusive, is known to exist.

In my opinion, the horseshoe crab is a fake. On the one hand, they don't get that big, and I don't think that they could live if they did (too much weight for the legs to carry; too much food to gather to feed such a big beast, which is a slow feeder and would only get slower at such a large size). On the other hand, it looks like it's been cleverly photoshopped on the picture. Isn't it funny that the tail is the same colour as the rest of the body, as it should be partly hidden by the reflection on the water? I'm waiting for the original picture to turn up...

The horseshoe crab one is obviously a fake, as said in the post by Accipiter in partibus infidelium; the females only get at maximum 2 feet _long_. If this were real, it would be a major find. As for the squid and frog pictures - absolutely real. It has been documented that giant squid can get up to 30 feet long including their tentacles!
This is off of the subject of living sea creatures, but check out this giant fossil centipede!!
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_science/article/0,2668,ALBQ_21236_3699656,00.html

Millipede - oops!

They all look real, except for the stingray one...that one is interesting...if it's fake, then it's done very, very well.

The frog is real for sure, and those squid are easy to believe...but that stingray/crab thing is a little larger than life.

-The King

NOT a stingray. HORSE SHOE CRAB.

That is a deffinate fake. The picture of the person might be real, but the crab was edited in at that large size.

I've seen a lot of big horshoe crabs in Cape Cod... but not THAT big. The others are real, but I'm voting down on that one. I saw a frog just like that at an aquarium. It was in a tank with a sign that said, "Beware of the Killer Attack Frog." (Just a joke of course, but a frog of that size is rather unnerving.)

...Would like to have a bit of calamari now...

I bet #2 is fake too. I think it captures squid laying on the table or glass. Look at the "reflection" of the box on the left.

The stingray is real. The squids look as real as the octopus in "Ed Wood." I guess the frog is real, if you think the budweiser frogs are reall. It's a dang puppet, for cryin' out loud. That kid would be tossing that thing like a hot potato if it was real. Look at its eyes. You people are so gullible. But the stingray is definitely real.

There is no picture of a stingray.
Frogs that large DO exist. I think all little boys would want to hold one.
The first squid looks really real, and the 2nd just looks bad b/c it looks like a still taken from a video.

Seriously, what is that guy gonna do w/ that little net, even if the horse shoe crab was real?

This is a sting ray...they're soft:


This is a horse shoe crab. They have a hard shell.

Have you ever been to California? It's called a STING RAY. My uncle stepped on one once and bled like a stuck pig. Oh, and I've got a kermit puppet that looks realer than that thing. BUD WISE ERRRRRRRRRR....

Stinray -


Horseshoe crab -


Notice the segmentation. The picture in the topic is a horseshoe crab.

Booch...SHUTUP. You obviously don't know what you're talking about. You've had TWO people show you TWO different sets of pictures that prove you wrong.

Sting rays are soft...
The animal in the pic that Alex posted is NOT soft. It's got a crunchy outshell and one hell of a spike on it's tail. They're easy to find on the beach, and are very easy to pick up, if they have been stranded.

What is the deal? Why the hell would I post something that was wrong? I've hardly ever wrong, and when I am it's about something stupid like song lyrics. BAH! I'm going home!

Ummm... what? You're rude, and wrong. We're not talking about the two pictures sent by a couple of goofs, we're talking abut the fake picture of the stingray. How in the blue blazes do you know that Alex's pic is not soft? Do you know that if you touch your computer screen, they're ALL not soft? What do you have on your monitor? Get some windex, and some class, before you start to give me the bizness.
PS- The reason you would post something that is wrong is bacause you're not a very smart person. You don't even know how to spell Meagan.
PSS- West Coast rules

booch, do you honestly think that looks like a stingray? Charybdis already mentioned the segmentation, can't you see that?

By the way not everybody spells their name the way you think they do.

The frog is definately real. It's an African pixie frog, they get very large. I have one but it's just a baby now.

Dear Dumbass... aka Booch.

It's a crab and not a stingray obviously. You don't even need to be a layperson to know this, just a semi-educated one. Now be man enough to admit when you were wrong. You spouted off your mouth, thinking you knew something, when really you were wrong. Be man enough to admit that... you giving men a bad name... little boy!

PS - It's her name, given to her by her parents so I'm pretty sure she knows how to spell it better than you. What's next, you gonna start bitchin' at Alex for not spelling his name Alec?

PSS - The East Coast rules as everyone knows. Where is the US seat of federal government? Where is the "Capitol" building? Where is the Pentegon? Yes, occasionally we do let some dumbass hick from the West (aka Bush) into the group, but it's only so you guys won't riot again!

The first picture is real, squid do get that big, and we have found many specimen of giant squid like that one.
The second looks fake. It has the *possibility* of being real, again, squids can get that big, but it is of a very poor quality and the eye looks like it is a "shrinky-dink".
The third is definitly a fake, and not a sting ray, its a horseshoe crab. Horseshoe crabs just don't jet that big. I don't know how the person mistook it for a sting ray, but there are ignorant people out there.
The forth picture is real, the kid is holding some sort of bullfrog or toad from africa, where I have seen them that size.

I still don't get how they mixed up a sting ray and a horseshoe crab, jeez...

Mark-n-Jen,
Please don't. You don't know what you're getting in to. But since you started it...
It doesn't surpise me at ALL that you and Jen are experts on crabs.
I'm all man, bud, and to prove it, I won't get into a little sissy name-calling game with some midwestern corn holer, um, corn eater.
Lay off Meagan- if she can't spell her name right, what do you care? Do you IM each other secretly?
You don't HAVE a coast- just dirt. You are part of the unimportant afterthought, the middle. It's the place where Dave Matthews jettisons his tanks, and for good reason. That's where it belongs.
I don't have a beef with you. Let's be friends. Mark-n-Jen, my friends with the crabs.

Like Draconegia said...

"I don't know how the person mistook it for a sting ray, but there are ignorant people out there."

That's you that's being referred to there Booch. Which is BTW what seeps out of your ass when you "think" you have to fart but really have the shits! 😉

As for all the other drivel you spouted...

Boo-Hoo... you really hurt my feelings. NOT! 😊
Like I said, you're a dumbass! I also noticed you still haven't addressed your mistake. I thought you said it was a "stingray?" What's up there?

I first suspected that you were just ignorant, but it now seems as though your stupid! I bet the educated people of the area really appreciate your "representation" of them!

:roll:

Um, I hate to be picky about it, Alex, but there are NO pictures of fish here. What we have are two squids (cephalopod mollusks), a horseshoe crab (which is technically an arachnid, not a true crab, and a million miles from being a stingray), and an outsized amphibian of undetermined species (though it reminds me of the Australian Cane Toads).

I just had to get that out of my system.

Mark,
Do you kiss that crab-infested Jen with that mouth? Clean up your act, and get some class.

It's a stingray.

I bet you're a democrat, with a foul mouth like that.

Nope not democrat...

But with a brain like yours I'd bet your Republican!

No, it's not a stingray...

BTW you can't even spell your own name right...
it's spelled B-I-T-C-H!

NOBODY could be that stupid! Booch is obviously just "taking the piss out of you". He's just trying to get you stirred up, and it's working. Ignore him.

It's definitely a horseshoe crab, and it's way too big to be real.

Pete,

Yes people can actually be that stupid, BUT, if what you state is actually the case then we're just just both having BIG fun... because that's all I'm really doing myself!

I could care less about any of the subject matter personally. I was just trying to get him to redirect his stupidity at me... which was VERY easy to do. Once that was accomplished I was simply "stoking" the fire to keep warm. Know what I mean...

Thanks for the warning though...

😊

Right, I think that anybody who can confuse that third pic for a stingray really needs their eyes checked. Even in the thumbnail version of the pic, the sillhouette is totally wrong to be a stingray.

The frog looks kinda oversized too. Big Gary C made the comment that it reminded him of a Cane Toad, which I agree with, except that it's not a cane toad, as they're not usually that shade of green!

Petey, 😉 You get it. Thanks.
Look at all my posts. I'm hilarious.
I'm a FUNNY Hairy Houdini.
Props to all my fans.
But you don't have to ignore me.
PS- It's a STING RAY

Booch said:"I'm a FUNNY Hairy Houdini." Hey, spud- don't me involved in this. You're on your own.

Oh no! I'm on my own? OOOOOOOOOOOH. Of course I'm on my own, Harry- if I was with you, I'd be mediocre, unfunny, and lame. HAIRY Houdini- that's genius! You made a funny out of your name! You're about as funny as Gallagher. Um, I think I'll go ahead and continue out on my own, Harry, where the laughs are.

It's a STING RAY

Be my friend, Harry... I'm just kiddin' around....

This has left the world of the pathetic and entered the world of flaming. booch knows it's a crab. He's just trying to rile people up. I suggest everyone just stop responding to his sad attempt at attention. Maybe leo is feeling lonely - at least his arguments seem to come from the heart.

Um...Booch? It's Hairy, not Harry. "Harry" is a nickname for "Harold". "Hairy" is my given name. I was born hirsute. Hairy Heinrich Houdini. Get it right, dillweed. And, no, you can't be my friend. You can be my PAL, tho.

Hey, Chary, don't invoke the leos. They might come out the woodwork and start insulting me again!

This is so out of control.

And just to clarify...BOOCH (you faggity douche bag you!)my name is spelled MAEGAN, b/c it is pronounce MAY-GAN, not MEGG-AN. If I were pronouncing it MEGG-AN, it would have been spelled Meagan, or Megan, or Meghan, or Megen. But it's not spelled any of those ways, b/c it's not pronounced any of those ways. Maegan is different from Megan, just like Hairy is different from Harry. Get it straight, you faggity douche bag.

Perhaps this site ought to implement a policy of purely socratic dialogue (look it up) before Mack-N-Jean, Morgan, Hoary Hardoni, dooch, Chalybeate, and the rest reach sufficient temperature and pressure to initiate nuclear fusion and level several large parts of the US!

Sheesh, you didn't see *me* get all overt about people calling me 'Dave' did you!?

Listen up, Dave...why would all of our posts relate to Socrates? That just wouldn't make sense!

Also, b/c of my name, usually the first thing I have EVER said to someone I meet for the first time is, "It's MAEgan, actually." It's sort of nice b/c I can be a little bit annoying, and a little bit condescending, while still correcting someone all at the same time.

When someone takes the time to insult us, we'd like to put the same thought & time into tearing them down. It's just our way. We'd hate for them to have posted in vain, only for us to ignore them. It's just courtesy that causes us to 'go fusion' on their asses.

Picture no. 3 is fake. Horseshoe crabs (actually closely related to Spiders rather than crabs) do not grow this large, and spend more time out of water. They are only semi-aquatic. The picture is ceratinly not a stingray! I'm glad so many noticed the truth in this photo. Martin Stickley BSC (Hons) Marine Biology.

MAY GAN,
Funy but I always thought that YOU were a 'faggity douchebag' because you can't spell & don't come off as very bright. But this obsession w/clarifying your own name is really tedious to keep reading about. But what do I know? I'm just as ASS HAT. Guess I'll move along now...
Bye,
Ass Hat

Yes, I have made as ASS HAT typo or 2 in the previous post. So before you all CRUCIFY me for that, let me point out that when I said MAY GAN couldn't spell I was refering to someone who just consistently spells many things quite strangely. I don't check my posts normally & don't think ONE or TWO typos is a travesty. But crucify me in ASS HAT fashion if you must...

the shadows are inconsistent in the crab pic

it's still a sting ray...

Well all I know is that this is a big shark.
http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/r_largest.htm

There is no reason to believe the squid pictures are fake. The giant squid (Architeuthis dux) gets to at least 59 feet long, maybe even larger. Both pictures seem to be consistent with that. Also, we have never seen a live adult. All we have are rotting corpses that wash up on beaches or mangled specimens hauled in by fishermen. Again, both pictures show considerable damage which is consistent with that, including the odd looking eye.

The "stingray" is very obviously fake. Not only is the glare and shadow wrong (not to mention the label; obviously a horseshoe crab), but the largest species of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), only gets to about 2 feet total length. There is no giant species, and no amount of feeding or vitamins will create a 10+ foot monster like in the picture. Also, horseshoe crabs are not semi-aquatic. The only time they come on land is to mate and lay eggs. While they are more closely related to spiders than to crabs, they aren't arachnids. They have their own taxonomic class, Merostomata, which is equal in taxonomic weight with class Arachnida. Horseshoe crabs are only about as closely related to arachnids as we are to fish, and even more distantly related to crabs. None of the four species are found on "South African shores," nor do any of them have any mechanism to survive freezing.

The frog picture does appear to be real. The frog pictured is the African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus)or pixie frog as someone pointed out. It gets to nearly a foot (in length and diameter) and isn't even the world's biggest frog. That honor goes to the goliath frog (Conraua goliath) which is slightly bigger.

Mike G, Marine bio student

god . . . finally somebody like Mike post something that sounds smart.

The thing with the crab picture that throws me is that the guys has a pole sticking above the water but not his arms. Yet, I see a shadow of this arms over the water, yet the picture seems to be taken from farther out. I don't think I should see a shadow. Not to mention that his arms don't seem to be over the water anyway. My guess is that crab is pretty small and a guy on a pier was plopped on to with some shadows applied.