![]() The giant squid is not just a single species - or is it? Some researchers think there are as many as 8 species in the genus Architeuthis (Greek for "chief squid"), each a different kind of giant squid. They have thousands of suckers working in unison on eight arms and two tentacles, with a rapidly-contracting mantle, to help capture and kill prey. However, that doesn't make them sluggish weaklings. "However, their muscular structure, density and fluid composition indicate that they are not nearly that strong," he says. Based on this new method scientists believe the giant squid could reach lengths up to 66 feet (20 meters) long, making it potentially larger than the colossal squid, however, a real-life squid of this size has never been documented.īut does a big giant squid necessarily mean a strong one? If they were proportionally as strong as their smaller cousins, the Humboldt squid ( Dosidicus gigas), giant squid would be VERY strong, says Smithsonian squid expert Clyde Roper. A new method for figuring out how big a squid can get includes using beak size to estimate total body length, a helpful tool considering the hard beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. The longest mantle length on record is 7.4 feet (2.25 meters) the length from the tip of the top fin to the end of the arms rarely exceeds 16 feet (5 meters), and the longest total length (including tentacles) of a squid on record is 43 feet (13 meters). On the other hand, when they wash ashore, the squids can be bloated with water, appearing bigger than they really are.īecause tentacles and arms fall off or, alternatively, can be stretched out, scientists often use mantle length as the best measure of a squid's actual size. Sometimes their tentacles or arms have fallen off, or have been eaten by other animals while afloat in the ocean. Almost everything people know about giant squid comes from specimens washed up on beaches. Unfortunately, the reports of their size are often exaggerated since finding a live giant squid is an extremely rare event. Giant squid are big-but just how big are they? ![]() As the camera whirred, the research team pulled a 24-foot (7-meter) squid to the surface alive enabling people around the world to finally see a living, breathing giant squid. The species was first recorded live in 2006, after researchers suspended bait beneath a research vessel off the Ogasawara Islands to try and hook a giant squid. But because the ocean is vast and giant squid live deep underwater, they remain elusive and are rarely seen: most of what we know comes from dead carcasses that floated to the surface and were found by fishermen.īut after years of searching, in 2012 a group of scientists from Japan's National Science Museum along with colleagues from Japanese public broadcaster NHK and the Discovery Channel filmed a giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time. ![]() You’d think such a huge animal wouldn't be hard to miss. Giant squid live up to their name: the largest giant squid ever recorded by scientists was almost 43 feet (13 meters) long, and may have weighed nearly a ton. ![]()
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