What's the largest recorded squid?
Colossal squid
The largest recorded specimen was captured in 2007 by a New Zealand fishing boat off Antarctica. It was initially estimated to measure in length and weigh . The squid was taken back to New Zealand for scientific study. A study on the specimen later showed its actual weight was , but it only measured in total length as a result of the tentacles' shrinking "post mortem".
Cephalopod size
The maximum sizes of certain cephalopod species, most notably the giant squid and giant Pacific octopus, have often been misreported and exaggerated. The literature on cephalopod size has been further muddied by the frequent misattribution of various squid specimens to the giant squid genus "Architeuthis", often based solely on their large size. In the academic literature alone, such misidentifications encompass at least the oegopsid families Chiroteuthidae, Cranchiidae, Ommastrephidae, Onychoteuthidae, and Psychroteuthidae (see Ellis, 1998a; Salcedo-Vargas, 1999; Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004). This situation is further confused by the occasional usage of the common name 'giant squid' in reference to large squids of other genera (Robson, 1933:681; see for example Mitsukuri & Ikeda, 1895; Meek & Goddard, 1926; Clarke & Robson, 1929; Phillips, 1933; Croker, 1934; Rees, 1950; Smith, 1963; Nesis, 1970).
Striped bass
The largest striped bass ever taken by angling was an 81.88-lb (37.14-kg) specimen taken from a boat in Long Island Sound, near the Outer Southwest Reef, off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut. The all-tackle world record fish was taken by Gregory Myerson on the night of August 4, 2011. The fish took a drifted live eel bait, and fought for 20 minutes before being boated by Myerson. A second hook and leader was discovered in the fish's mouth when it was boated, indicating it had been previously hooked by another angler. The fish measured 54 in length and had a girth of 36 in. The International Game Fish Association declared Myerson's catch the new all-tackle world record striped bass on October 19, 2011. In addition to now holding the All-Tackle record, Meyerson's catch also landed him the new IGFA men’s 37-kg (80-lb) line class record for striped bass, which previously stood at 70 lb. The previous all-tackle world record fish was a 78.5-lb (35.6-kg) specimen taken in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 21, 1982 by Albert McReynolds, who fought the fish from the beach for 1:20 after it took his Rebel artificial lure.
Recreational bag limits vary by state and province.
Ocmulgee River
The Ocmulgee River is popular with anglers for its excellent fishing, particularly for redbreast sunfish, bluegill, redear sunfish, largemouth bass, black crappie, channel catfish, and flathead catfish. The world record for largest recorded catch of a largemouth bass was achieved in 1932 in Montgomery Lake, an oxbow lake off the Ocmulgee River in Telfair County. The record-setting fish, caught by farmer George Washington Perry, weighted 22 pounds, six ounces. The International Game Fish Association officially declared the world record for largemouth bass tied in 2010, following Manabu Kurita's catch (in July 2009) of a 22-pound, four-ounce largemouth bass in Lake Biwa in Japan.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
The earliest records of very large squid date to classical antiquity, and the writings of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder (Gerhardt, 1966:171; Muntz, 1995; Ellis, 1998a:11). But in the absence of detailed descriptions or surviving remains, it is not possible to assign these to the giant squid genus "Architeuthis" with any confidence, and they are therefore not included in this list. Basque and Portuguese cod fishermen observed what were likely giant squid carcasses in the waters of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland as early as the 16th century (Roper "et al.", 2015:78), but conclusive evidence is similarly lacking. The earliest specimens identifiable as true giant squid are generally accepted to be ones from the early modern period in the 17th and 18th centuries (Ellis, 1994a:379), and possibly as far back as the 16th century (#1; Ellis, 1998a:257; Sweeney & Roper, 2001:[27]; Guerra "et al.", 2004a:428; though see Paxton & Holland, 2005).
Natural History Museum, London
The Darwin Centre is host to Archie, an 8.62-metre-long giant squid taken alive in a fishing net near the Falkland Islands in 2004. The squid is not on general display, but stored in the large tank room in the basement of the Phase 1 building. It is possible for members of the public to visit and view non-exhibited items behind the scenes for a fee by booking onto one of the several Spirit Collection Tours offered daily. 
On arrival at the museum, the specimen was immediately frozen while preparations commenced for its permanent storage. Since few complete and reasonably fresh examples of the species exist, "wet storage" was chosen, leaving the squid undissected. A 9.45-metre acrylic tank was constructed (by the same team that provide tanks to Damien Hirst), and the body preserved using a mixture of formalin and saline solution.
The Search for the Giant Squid
The book was published at a time when there were still no known photographs of a live giant squid, which Ellis described as "the most elusive image in natural history". This soon changed as the first years of the 21st century saw a number of breakthroughs in live giant squid imaging that ultimately culminated in the first recording of a live animal in its natural deep-water habitat in July 2012. These events marked a turning point in the scientific understanding of the giant squid's life history and biology, which Ellis himself discussed in a TV interview, commenting: "now my book is a little obsolete".
Abyssobrotula galatheae
Abyssobrotula galatheae, is a species of cusk eel in the family Ophidiidae. It is the deepest-living fish known; one specimen, trawled from a depth of in the Puerto Rico Trench in 1970, holds the record for the deepest fish ever captured. Although generally recognized, some have suggested that the record-breaking individual might have been caught with a non-closing net (a net that is open on the way up and down into the deep) and therefore perhaps caught shallower.
Giant squid
Giant squid size, particularly total length, has often been exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching and even exceeding are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented. According to giant squid expert Steve O'Shea, such lengths were likely achieved by greatly stretching the two tentacles like elastic bands.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
O'Shea (2003b) put the maximum weight of female giant squid at , based on the examination of some 105 specimens as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens; some of the heaviest recent specimens include #465 and 486). Giant squid are sexually size dimorphic, with the maximum weight for males estimated at (O'Shea, 2003b), though heavier specimens have occasionally been reported (see #401 for specimen). Roper & Jereb (2010:121) give a maximum weight of up to , and "possibly greater". Discredited weights of as much as a tonne () or more are not uncommon in older literature (see e.g. #22, 115, and 118; O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (21st century)
Though the total number of recorded giant squid specimens now runs into the hundreds, the species remains notoriously elusive and little known. By the turn of the 21st century, the giant squid remained one of the few truly large extant megafauna to have never been photographed alive, either in the wild or in captivity. Marine writer and artist Richard Ellis described it as "the most elusive image in natural history" (Ellis, 1998a:211).
Early attempts to capture a glimpse of the animal in its natural habitat included a submersible expedition by Frederick Aldrich in the late 1980s (Ellis, 1998a:3; Lien, 2000:279). purporting to show a live "Architeuthis dux" alongside a diver was published by Poppe & Goto (1993), but this turned out to be a sick or dying "Onykia robusta" (misidentification #[7]; Ellis, 1998a:211; Norman, 2000:174). A number of expeditions were mounted in the 1990s with the aim of capturing footage of a live giant squid in its natural habitat (Pope, 1994; Fisher, 1995; Judd, 1996; [Anonymous], 1996), but all were unsuccessful. They included Smithsonian-backed expeditions to the Azores in July 1996 and to Kaikoura Canyon off New Zealand in January–March 1997 and February–March 1999 (the former covered by National Geographic; Allen, 1997; McCarey & Rubin, 1998). These expeditions—the latter two each costing around $10 million—employed a combination of sperm whale-mounted crittercams, baited "ropecams" or "drop-cams", an "Odyssey IIB" autonomous underwater vehicle, and the single-person submersible "Deep Rover" (Fisher, 1997; Ellis, 1997a; Grzelewski, 2002). All three were led by giant squid expert Clyde Roper, with the first two also involving marine biologist Malcolm Clarke (Gomes-Pereira "et al.", 2017:823) and the last two Steve O'Shea of NIWA (Roper "et al.", 1997, 1999; Roper, 1998a, 1998b, 2000, 2006, 2013). Richard Ellis took part in the first of the New Zealand expeditions and in 1998 released a popular nonfiction book, "The Search for the Giant Squid", further raising interest in the pursuit of a live animal (Miller, 1996; Ellis, 1998a). Oceanographic explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, led another unsuccessful expedition to New Zealand that ended in early 2001 ([Anonymous], 2001b).
Largest organisms
The lion's mane jellyfish ("Cyanea capillata") is the largest cnidaria species, of the class Scyphozoa. The largest known specimen of this giant, found washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870, had a bell diameter of , a weight of . The tentacles of this specimens were as long as and were projected to have a tentacular spread of about making it one of the longest extant animals.
The largest roundworm, "Placentonema gigantissima", is a parasite found in the placentas of sperm whales which can reach up to in length.
Largest organisms
The Permian era "Cotylorhynchus", from what is now the southern United States, probably was the largest of all synapsids (most of which became extinct 250 million years ago), at and 2 tonnes. The largest carnivorous synapsid was "Anteosaurus" from what is now South Africa during Middle Permian era. "Anteosaurus" was long, and weighed about .The largest living reptile, a representative of the order Crocodilia, is the saltwater crocodile ("Crocodylus porosus") of Southern Asia and Australia, with adult males being typically long. The largest confirmed saltwater crocodile on record was long, and weighed about . Unconfirmed reports of much larger crocodiles exist, but examinations of incomplete remains have never suggested a length greater than . Also, a living specimen estimated at and has been accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records. However, due to the difficulty of trapping and measuring a very large living crocodile, the accuracy of these dimensions has yet to be verified. A specimen named Lolong caught alive in the Philippines in 2011 (died February 2013) was found to have measured in length.
Centro del Calamar Gigante
Centro del Calamar Gigante previously held the world's largest collection of giant squid, but many of the museum's specimens were destroyed during a storm on 2 February 2014. One of the specimens that survived the storm was a giant squid caught off Gandia in July 2005 – the first male recorded from the Mediterranean Sea. A few days after the storm the museum was broken into at night and vandalised. As of April 2014 the museum remains closed until further notice.
Cephalopod size
The total length of the Berzin specimen was later confirmed to be erroneous; according to Valentin Yukhov, who was involved in the specimen's discovery, it should have read (Romanov "et al.", 2017). The misprint was reproduced in the English translation published the following year and was later propagated in a number of papers on giant squid (Romanov "et al.", 2017). With the Berzin specimen not being as large as originally reported, the longest giant squid recovered from a sperm whale is the TL individual recorded by Clarke (1956:257) (this specimen also has the longest confirmed ML and SL of any giant squid from a sperm whale; Paxton, 2016a:83). Paxton considered the "longest visually estimated" TL to be the published by Murray (1874:121), from an eyewitness account by fisherman Theophilus Picot, who claimed to have struck the floating animal from his boat, causing it to attack. Picot managed to hack off one of its tentacles, which was subsequently examined by a number of authors (see Murray, 1874; Verrill, 1875a; Verrill, 1875b).
Kondakovia longimana
Kondakovia longimana, also known as the giant warty squid or longarm octopus squid, is a large species of hooked squid. It attains a mantle length of at least 85 cm and probably over 1.15 m. The largest complete specimen of this species, measuring 2.3 m in total length, was found in Antarctica in 2000.
Cephalopod size
It is now accepted that the giant squid has a maximum mass of several hundred kilograms (O'Shea, 2003a; Roper & Jereb, 2010a:121), but the literature is rife with claims of much greater weights. Clarke (1966), for example, put the mass of the largest giant squid specimens at around (Alexander, 1998:1233). Similarly, Ellis (1998a:106) wrote: "Where [giant] squid carcasses have actually been weighed, it appears that the longest ones—in the 50-foot [] range, for example—weigh about a ton []." Much greater estimates of giant squid mass can be found in, for example, "Natural History of Marine Animals" by MacGinitie & MacGinitie (1949): "two arms of "Architeuthis" that were long were found, and if one reconstructed a body [...] the squid to which these arms belonged was in diameter and long, with an overall measurement of . It would have weighed about 42½ tons []." They added that a specimen, such as the one reported from Thimble Tickle, "would have weighed 29¼ or 30 tons [] including the tentacles—a truly noble animal, being a little more than one-fifth the weight of the largest whale and larger than the whale sharks and basking sharks, the largest of all fishes" (MacGinitie & MacGinitie, 1949). Ellis (1998a:106) characterised these estimates as "unfounded exaggerations". In the revised edition of "Natural History of Marine Animals", published in 1968, the authors reduced their estimate to less than 8 tonnes (MacGinitie & MacGinitie, 1968; Wood, 1982:190).
Cephalopod size
Based on a 40-year data set of more than 50 giant squid specimens, Roper & Shea (2013:114) suggest an average total length at maturity of and a "rarely encountered maximum length" of . Of the nearly 100 specimens examined by Clyde Roper, the largest was "46 feet (14 m) long" (Cerullo & Roper, 2012:22). O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) give a maximum total length of for females based on the examination of more than 130 specimens, measured "post mortem" and relaxed, as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Steve O'Shea estimated the maximum total length for males at (O'Shea, 2003a). Older records of or more were likely exaggerated by stretching of the long feeding tentacles or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Roper & Shea, 2013:113). Charles G. M. Paxton performed a statistical analysis using literature records of giant squid specimens and concluded that "squid with a conservative TL of would seem likely based on current data" (Paxton, 2016a, b), but the study has been heavily criticised by experts in the field (Greshko, 2016). O'Shea has stated that, given the available evidence, the highest upper bound he would consider plausible for the giant squid's total length would be , and that the likelihood that there exist 20-metre giant squid is "so exceedingly remote that you couldn't justify the effort in writing about it" (Bittel, 2016). O'Shea contends that Paxton's estimates are skewed because his data set included unreliable (and exaggerated) records from the nineteenth century. Paxton has responded that even when these questionable records are excluded the analysis gives "a maximum length of just over 20 metres with a 99.9% prediction interval" (Bittel, 2016).
Snail
The largest known land gastropod is the African giant snail "Achatina achatina", the largest recorded specimen of which measured from snout to tail when fully extended, with a shell length of in December 1978. It weighed exactly 900 g (2 lb). Named Gee Geronimo, this snail was owned by Christopher Hudson (1955–79) of Hove, East Sussex, UK, and was collected in Sierra Leone in June 1976.
Cephalopod size
The largest known complete specimen of the colossal squid was a mature female captured in the Ross Sea in February 2007. Its weight was initially estimated at , its mantle length at , and its total length at (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; [Anonymous],). Once completely thawed the specimen was found to weigh , but to measure only in mantle length and in total length ([Anonymous],). It is likely that the specimen, and particularly its tentacles, shrank considerably "post mortem" as a result of dehydration, having been kept in a freezer for 14 months. (As reported by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, specimens of "Nototodarus sloanii", the New Zealand arrow squid, can shrink by as much as 22% when dehydrated with alcohol solutions; see [Anonymous],.) The colossal squid specimen contracted by a further 5% after several years in preservative fluid (first formalin and later propylene glycol; see Lovis, 2011). The fins of the 2007 Ross Sea specimen measured around across and it had a mantle width of ([Anonymous],). The arms ranged in length from to , while the two tentacles were around long ([Anonymous],).
List of largest fish
Much larger bony fish existed prehistorically, the largest ever known having been "Leedsichthys", of the Jurassic period in what is now England. This species is certainly the largest bony fish ever and perhaps the largest non-cetacean marine animal to have ever existed. Estimates of the size of this fish range from and mass from 20 to 50 tons. A maximum size of and 25–30 tons has been deemed to be most realistic.The largest living lobe-finned fish is the coelacanth. The average weight of the living West Indian Ocean coelacanth, ("Latimeria chalumnae"), is , and they can reach up to in length. Specimens can weigh up to . The largest lobe-finned fish of all time was "Hyneria" at up to .
Bigfin reef squid
Bigfin reef squids are characterised by a large oval fin that extends throughout the margins of its mantle, giving them a superficial similarity to cuttlefish. They are small to medium-sized squids, averaging in length. They exhibit elaborate mating displays and usually spawn in May, but it can vary by location. The paralarvae resemble miniature adults and are remarkable for already having the capability to change body colouration upon hatching. Bigfin reef squids have the fastest recorded growth rates of any large marine invertebrate, reaching in only four months. They are a short-lived species, with a maximum recorded lifespan of 315 days.
Freshwater anchovy
"Thryssa scratchleyi" is recorded to be the largest anchovy known.
Cephalopod size
Though a substantial number of colossal squid ("Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni") remains have been recorded (Xavier "et al.", 1999 collated 188 geographical positions for whole or partial specimens caught by commercial and scientific fisheries), very few adult or subadult animals have ever been documented, making it difficult to estimate the maximum size of the species. McClain "et al." (2015) stated that only 12 "complete" specimens were known.
Great white shark
One of the largest adult great whites ever exhibited was at Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in 2016, where a male was exhibited for three days before dying. Probably the most famous captive was a female named Sandy, which in August 1980 became the only great white to be housed at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California. She was released because she would not eat and constantly bumped against the walls.
Giant squid
In July 2012, a crew from television networks NHK and Discovery Channel captured what they describe as "the first-ever footage of a live giant squid in its natural habitat". The footage was revealed on a NHK Special on 13 January 2013, and was shown on Discovery Channel's show "Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real" on 27 January 2013, and on "Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible – Natural World Special" on BBC Two. The squid was about long and was missing its feeding tentacles, likely from a failed attack by a sperm whale. It was drawn into viewing range by both artificial bioluminescence created to mimic panicking Atolla jellyfish and by using a "Thysanoteuthis rhombus" (diamond squid) as bait. The giant squid was filmed feeding for about 23 minutes by Tsunemi Kubodera until it departed. The technique of using unobtrusive viewing and bioluminescence luring of the squid with quiet unobtrusive platforms was described by Edith Widder, a member of the expedition.
Registry of World Record Size Shells
The largest listed cephalopod shell is that of "Argonauta argo", at .
Blue catfish
On February 7, 2012, a 136-lb blue catfish was caught on a commercial-fishing trot line in Lake Moultrie, one of the two Santee Cooper lakes, near Cross, South Carolina. It was 56 inches long. The fish is the largest blue catfish ever weighed on a certified scale in South Carolina, but it is not eligible for state record certification because it was not caught on a rod and reel.
On July 20, 2010, a yet-to-be-certified new world record blue catfish was caught by Greg Bernal of Florissant, Missouri, on the Missouri River. Greg's girlfriend, Janet Momphard, a nurse from St. Charles, helped land the world-record fish. The record catfish weighed in at 130 lb. It was 57 in long and 45 in around. The previous angling world record, 124 lb, was caught by Tim Pruitt on May 22, 2005, in the Mississippi River. This record broke the previous blue catfish record of 121.5 lb caught from Lake Texoma, Texas.
List of largest fish
The largest living bony fish (superclass Osteichthyes, which includes both ray-finned and lobe-finned fish) is the widely distributed ocean sunfish ("Mola mola") and southern sunfish ("Mola alexandrini"), both being members of the order Tetraodontiformes. The record size ocean sunfish crashed into a boat off Bird Island, Australia in 1910 and measured from fin-to-fin, in length and weighed about . While the biggest "Mola alexandrini" was also coincidentally 2,300 kg in mass and 3.0 m in length, caught off in 1996 and misidentified as a "Mola mola".
Colossal squid
The squid's known range extends thousands of kilometres north of Antarctica to southern South America, southern South Africa, and the southern tip of New Zealand, making it primarily an inhabitant of the entire circumantarctic Southern Ocean.
Squid
In 2003, a large specimen of an abundant but poorly understood species, "Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni" (the colossal squid), was discovered. This species may grow to in length, making it the largest invertebrate. In February 2007, a New Zealand fishing vessel caught the largest squid ever documented, weighing and measuring around off the coast of Antarctica. Dissection showed that the eyes, used to detect prey in the deep Southern Ocean, exceeded the size of footballs; these may be among the largest eyes ever to exist in the animal kingdom.
Cephalopod size
The list of largest cephalopods by mantle length is dominated by squids, with more than twenty species exceeding the largest-bodied octopuses and cuttlefish. The largest of all is the colossal squid ("Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni") with an estimated maximum mantle length of (Roper & Jereb, 2010c:173). Even greater mantle lengths have historically been reported for the giant squid ("Architeuthis dux"), but these have been discredited (see O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008).
Cephalopod size
Reports of giant squid ("Architeuthis dux") specimens reaching or even exceeding in total length are widespread, but no animals approaching this size have been scientifically documented in recent times (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Dery, 2013; Yong, 2015). This is despite there being hundreds of specimens available for study ( 700 documented as of 2015, of which 460 measured in some way; Paxton, 2016a), including numerous recent examples, such as the 57 specimens recorded from Japanese waters over a 15-month period in 2014–2015 (Kubodera "et al.", 2016). It is now thought likely that such lengths were achieved by great lengthening of the two long feeding tentacles, analogous to stretching elastic bands, or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Roper & Shea, 2013:113).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
According to Guerra "et al." (2006), 592 confirmed giant squid specimens were known as of the end of 2004. Of these, 306 came from the Atlantic Ocean, 264 from the Pacific Ocean, 20 from the Indian Ocean, and 2 from the Mediterranean Sea. The figures for specimens collected in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans further broke down as follows: 126 in the northwestern Atlantic, 148 in the northeastern Atlantic, 6 in the southwestern Atlantic, 26 in the southeastern Atlantic, 28 in the northwestern Pacific, 43 in the northeastern Pacific, 183 in the southwestern Pacific, and 10 in the southeastern Pacific (Guerra "et al.", 2006).
Cephalopod size
Perhaps the most notable misidentification relates to a photograph taken some time before 1993 by diver H. Kubota off southern Japan (Ellis, 1998a:211; Norman, 2000:174). The image shows a large individual of "Onykia robusta" (previously known as "Moroteuthis robusta"), which appears to be sick or dying, alongside a diver in shallow water (Ellis, 1998a:211). A video of the same animal appeared in a Japanese made-for-television film (Ellis, 1998a:211). The image was published in the 1993 book "European Seashells" by Guido T. Poppe and Yoshihiro Goto, where it was identified as "Architeuthis dux", the giant squid, and said to have been taken in the North Atlantic (Poppe & Goto, 1993). If true, this image would represent the first known photograph of a live giant squid. In "The Search for the Giant Squid" (1998), Richard Ellis wrote:
Natural History Museum, London
Arguably the most famous creature in the centre is the 8.62-metre-long giant squid, affectionately named Archie.
Tigerfish
The goliath tigerfish ("Hydrocynus goliath") is among the most famous tigerfish. The largest one on record is said to have weighed . It is found in the Congo River system and Lake Tanganyika and is the largest member of the family Alestidae. Another famous species, simply called the tigerfish ("Hydrocynus vittatus"), is commonly found in the southernly Okavango Delta, and the Zambezi River, and also in the two biggest lakes along the Zambezi, Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, and Cabora Bassa in Mozambique, and finally in the Jozini dam in South Africa.
Cephalopod size
"Onykia robusta", previously known as "Moroteuthis robusta" (see Bolstad, 2008; 2010) and sometimes called the robust clubhook squid, has a mantle length of up to (Norman, 2000:174; Bolstad, 2008:107; Okutani, 2015b). Some older records exceed this, such as the ML reported by Verrill (1876:237) from a specimen with a total length of (excluding the ends of the tentacles, which had been destroyed). Nesis (1987:192) likewise gave a maximum mantle length of , but Roper & Jereb (2010i:364) wrote that "this old record might be in error", with the species commonly growing to ML. Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:66) provided a maximum total length of .
Ogasawara Whale Watching Association
On September 30, 2004, researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat. Several of the 556 photographs were released a year later. The same team successfully filmed a live giant squid for the first time on December 4, 2006.
Atlantic cod
The largest individual on record was long and weighed , but usually the cod is between and long and weighs up to . There is generally no difference in weight or size between sexes of Atlantic Cod.
Saltwater crocodile
The largest confirmed saltwater crocodile on record drowned in a fishing net in Papua New Guinea in 1979, its dried skin plus head measured long and it was estimated to have been when accounting for shrinkage and a missing tail tip. However, according to evidence, in the form of skulls coming from some of the largest crocodiles ever shot, the maximum possible size attained by the largest members of this species is considered to be . A governmental study from Australia accepts that the very largest members of the species are likely to measure in length and weigh . Furthermore, a research paper on the morphology and physiology of crocodilians by the same organisation estimates that saltwater crocodiles reaching sizes of would weigh around . Due to extensive poaching during the 20th century, such individuals are extremely rare today in most areas, as it takes a long time for the crocodiles to attain those sizes. Also, a possible earlier presence of particular genes may have led to such large-sized saltwater crocodiles, genes that were ultimately lost from the overall gene pool due to extensive hide and trophy hunting in the past. However, with recent restoration of saltwater crocodile habitat and reduced poaching, the number of large crocodiles is increasing, especially in Odisha. This species is the only extant crocodilian to regularly reach or exceed . A large male from Philippines, named Lolong, was the largest saltwater crocodile ever caught and placed in captivity. He was 20 ft 3 in (6.17 m), and weighed 2,370 lbs (1,075 kg). Believed to have eaten two villagers, Lolong was captured on 3 September 2011, and died in captivity on 10 February 2013.
Lolong
In June 2012, six months after Australian zoologist and crocodile expert Dr. Adam Britton gathered measurements, Lolong was officially certified by the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the "world's largest crocodile in captivity" at . Experts from the National Geographic Channel found out that Lolong breaks the record of the previous record-holder: a male saltwater crocodile named Cassius kept in the crocodile park of MarineLand Melanesia in Queensland, Australia.
The certification was read in public during Bunawan's annual local festival, "Araw Ng Bunawan" (Bunawan Day).
Giant squid
In 2004, Japanese researchers took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat, and in July 2012, a live adult was first filmed in its natural habitat off Chichijima.
Cephalopod size
By comparison, giant squid suckers "normally" reach a maximum diameter of only a few centimetres. Based on a detailed examination of a number of large specimens from New Zealand waters, Förch (1998:55) wrote that "[t]he largest suckers [...] on the sessile arms are a very constant in external diameter". In giant squid the largest suckers of all are found on the central portion of the tentacular club, called the "manus", and among the specimens examined by Förch (1998:53) these reached a maximum diameter of . Clarke (1980) wrote: "I have not yet seen conclusive evidence to suggest that sucker scars are larger than across" (Ellis, 1998a:142). According to Roper & Boss (1982:97), the largest suckers of the tentacular clubs reach in diameter.
Giant squid
In 2004, another giant squid, later named "Archie", was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands by a fishing trawler. It was long and was sent to the Natural History Museum in London to be studied and preserved. It was put on display on 1 March 2006 at the Darwin Centre. The find of such a large, complete specimen is very rare, as most specimens are in a poor condition, having washed up dead on beaches or been retrieved from the stomachs of dead sperm whales.
St. Augustine Monster
The wide-spread interest in the very remarkable specimen of the giant squid, now lying on the beach a few miles below the city, is mainly due to its enormous size. It is believed to be the largest specimen ever found. Its great size and immense weight have thus far prevented its being moved for a more careful examination. A dozen men with blocks and tackle not being able even to turn it over. Another effort will be made with more extensive apparatus by which it is hoped to drag it from the pit in which it now lies and placing it higher up on the beach so that a careful and thorough examination in the interest of science can be made and the exact species determined. Professor Verrill of Yale and Profs. True and Dale [Dall] of the Smithsonian are in constant correspondence with Dr. DeWitt Webb, President of the St. Augustine Scientific, Literary and Historical Society, in regard to it. Several photographs have been taken of it, but owing to its position, these have not been satisfactory. Mrs. John L. Wilson believes it to belong to an extinct species. Its hide is three and a half inches thick and its head is covered by a hood that prevents examination. Apparently it is a mass of cartilage and may have been dead in the water many days before it washed ashore on Anastasia Island.
Giant squid
The number of known giant squid specimens was close to 700 in 2011, and new ones are reported each year. Around 30 of these specimens are exhibited at museums and aquaria worldwide. The Centro del Calamar Gigante in Luarca, Spain, had by far the largest collection on public display, but many of the museum's specimens were destroyed during a storm in February 2014.
Giant squid
On 4 December 2006, an adult giant squid was caught on video near the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo, by researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan led by Tsunemi Kubodera. It was a small female about long and weighing . The bait used by the scientists initially attracted a medium-sized squid measuring around , which in turn attracted the giant squid. It was pulled aboard the research vessel, but died in the process.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Earlier efforts to compile a list of all known giant squid encounters throughout history include those of marine writer and artist Richard Ellis (Ellis, 1994a:379–384, 1998a:257–265), and these too have informed the present list. Records which appear in Ellis's 1998 list but are not found in Sweeney & Roper's 2001 list have a citation to Ellis (1998a)—in the page range 257–265—in the 'Additional references' column of the main table.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (20th century)
This list of giant squid specimens and sightings from the 20th century is a comprehensive timeline of human encounters with members of the genus "Architeuthis", popularly known as giant squid. It includes animals that were caught by fishermen, found washed ashore, recovered (in whole or in part) from sperm whales and other predatory species, as well as those reliably sighted at sea. The list also covers specimens incorrectly assigned to the genus "Architeuthis" in original descriptions or later publications.
St. Bride's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. Bride's is a small town on the Cape Shore of Newfoundland, Canada. Located 166 km Southwest of the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, St. Bride's is a fishing community with a population of approximately 386 persons as of 2006. The largest codfish ever caught, weighing in at 125 lbs, was landed here in 1905.
Beluga (sturgeon)
The largest accepted record is of a female taken in 1827 in the Volga estuary at and . Another specimen reportedly weighed and measured in length. Several other records of aged sturgeon exceed . These great sizes mark the beluga as the largest freshwater fish in the world. A few other species of sturgeon can attain great sizes but none match the maximum sizes known for the beluga, like Chinese, Pacific White, Oceanic European, Atlantic, Baikalian, and Kaluga, the latter a close cousin which can attain a maximum weight of , thus attaining the second largest known sturgeon size. It may be considered as a rival in size to the ocean sunfish among all extant bony fishes, although that passive marine giant has neither been nearly as heavily fished nor takes as long to attain great size, so more regularly attains massive weights. The beluga may be the second longest extant bony fish as well, after the giant oarfish, which is far more slender in build. The Beluga also rivals the great white shark, the Greenland shark, and the tiger shark for the title of largest actively predatory fish, with only the great white easily exceeding the beluga's maximum size. The giant belugas are much larger than the Mekong giant catfish, the arapaima or other sizable rivals for the title of largest freshwater fish. Nevertheless, some scientists still consider the Mekong giant catfish to be the largest true freshwater fish, owing to sturgeons' ability to survive in seawater and that it spends much of its life in brackish environments.
Cephalopod size
Squids are the largest living cephalopods in terms of each of mantle length, total length, and mass, with the largest species by at least two of these measures being the colossal squid, "Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni". Reaching an estimated in mantle length and in total length, and weighing as much as , this species is also the largest of all extant invertebrates (Rosa & Seibel, 2010; McClain "et al.", 2015; Rosa "et al.", 2017). The only other squid that approaches these dimensions is the giant squid of the genus "Architeuthis", with females up to , in mantle length, and possibly as much as in total length, making it likely the longest of all cephalopods (McClain "et al.", 2015). The two largest octopus species—"Enteroctopus dofleini" and "Haliphron atlanticus"—can both exceed , and the former has a maximum total length of more than . Cirrate (finned) octopods can also reach a large size, with the largest captured specimen likely being a "Cirrothauma magna" of total length and mantle length (Collins "et al.", 2001; Collins & Villanueva, 2006:294), though observations from submersibles suggest that members of this group can exceed in total length (Voss, 1988; Vecchione "et al.", 2008). Members of the other cephalopod groups are substantially smaller, although the largest cuttlefish can exceed in weight and in mantle length. Cephalopods of comparable size to the largest present day squid are known from fossil remains, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids (see Teichert & Kummel, 1960; Stevens, 1988; Eyden, 2003b; Larson, 2010; Iba "et al.", 2015).
Australiteuthis
Australiteuthis aldrichi is a small species of squid from northern Australian waters. It was described by Chung Cheng Lu in 2005 based on specimens collected in inshore waters of Northern Australia. The largest known individual of this species is a mature female measuring 27.6 mm in mantle length (ML). The holotype is a mature male of 21.3 mm ML. "A. aldrichi" has never been seen alive. It is the only member of the genus Australiteuthis and the family Australiteuthidae.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
The giant squid's existence was established beyond doubt only in the 1870s, with the appearance of an extraordinary number of complete specimens—both dead and alive—in Newfoundland waters (beginning with #21; Earle, 1977; McConvey, 2015). These were meticulously documented in a series of papers by Yale zoologist Addison Emery Verrill (Coe, 1929:36; G.E. Verrill, 1958:69). The earliest known photographs of the giant squid were of two of these Newfoundland specimens, both from 1873: first a single severed tentacle—hacked off a live animal as it "attacked" a fishing boat (#28; Murray, 1874b:121)—and weeks later an intact animal in two parts (#29); the head and limbs of this latter specimen were famously shown draped over the sponge bath of Moses Harvey, a local clergyman, essayist, and amateur naturalist (Aldrich, 1987:109; Frank, 2014). Harvey secured and reported widely on both of these important specimens—as well as numerous others—and it was largely through his efforts that giant squid became known to North American and British zoologists (Aldrich, 1987:115). Recognition of "Architeuthis" as a real animal led to the reappraisal of earlier reports of gigantic tentacled sea creatures, with some of these subsequently being accepted as records of giant squid, the earliest stretching back to at least the 17th century (Ellis, 1994a:379, 1998a:257; Sweeney & Roper, 2001:[27]).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Including the head and arms but excluding the tentacles (standard length, SL), the species very rarely exceeds according to O'Shea & Bolstad (2008). Paxton (2016a) considers to be the greatest reliably measured SL, based on a specimen (#47) reported by Verrill (1880a:192), and considers specimens of SL or more to be "very probable", but these conclusions have been criticised by giant squid experts (Greshko, 2016).
Cephalopod size
Extreme penis elongation has been observed in the deep water squid "Onykia ingens". When erect, the penis may be as long as the mantle, head, and arms combined (Arkhipkin & Laptikhovsky, 2010:299; Walker, 2010). As such, deep water squids have the greatest known penis length relative to body size of all mobile animals, second in the entire animal kingdom only to certain sessile barnacles (Arkhipkin & Laptikhovsky, 2010:300).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (21st century)
It was only on 30 September 2004 that a live giant squid was photographed in its natural deep-water habitat, off the Ogasawara Islands, by Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori (#466; Kubodera & Mori, 2005; Kubodera, 2010:25), the culmination of an effort that spanned three years and 26 week-long expeditions (Dery, 2013). Kubodera and his team, again working off the Ogasawara Islands, subsequently became the first to "film" a live "adult" giant squid on 4 December 2006 (#473; [Reuters], 2007; Kubodera, 2010:38).
Magnoteuthis microlucens
A specimen was caught in a filter placed in one of the deep-sea pipelines of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) off the Hawaiian Islands in the summer of 2007. On June 12, 2007, the creature was identified as an unnamed species of squid. The ruby red creature was about a foot long, with white suction cups on its arms. The animal died three days after it was brought to the surface.
Giant squid
In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid A$100,000 for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that year.
Cephalopod size
Paxton (2016a) investigated the maximum size of "Architeuthis" by performing a statistical analysis using data from literature records of giant squid specimens. He selected what he regarded as the largest size records for each of mantle length (ML), standard length (SL), and total length (TL). Paxton's study has been criticised by giant squid experts, who have called into question the reliability of some of the selected literature records (Greshko, 2016).
Axon
The axons in invertebrates have been extensively studied. The longfin inshore squid, often used as a model organism has the longest known axon. The giant squid has the largest axon known. Its size ranges from a half (typically) to one millimetre in diameter and is used in the control of its jet propulsion system. The fastest recorded conduction speed of 210 m/s, is found in the ensheathed axons of some pelagic Penaeid shrimps and the usual range is between 90 and 200 m/s (cf 100–120 m/s for the fastest myelinated vertebrate axon.)
Whale shark
The whale shark is the largest non-cetacean animal in the world. The average size of adult whale sharks is estimated at and . Several specimens over in length have been reported. The largest verified specimen was caught on 11 November 1949, near Baba Island, in Karachi, Pakistan. It was long, weighed about , and had a girth of . Stories exist of vastly larger specimens – quoted lengths of and are common in the popular literature, but no scientific records support their existence. In 1868, the Irish natural scientist Edward Perceval Wright obtained several small whale shark specimens in the Seychelles, but claimed to have observed specimens in excess of , and tells of shark specimens surpassing .
Þingeyrar
One of the earliest recorded giant squid ("Architeuthis dux") specimens was found washed ashore on Þingeyrasandur in 1639.
Bigfin reef squid
Bigfin reef squids have one of the fastest recorded growth rates for any large marine invertebrate. They can reach in only four months. Nonetheless, size can not often be reliably correlated with age, as variations of body size within a generation is fairly common. In captivity, bigfin reef squids have a lifespan of 161 to 315 days for both sexes.
Cephalopod size
For standard length (excluding the tentacles), Paxton (2016a:83) cited the of the "Three Arms specimen" documented by Verrill (1880a:192) as the "longest measured". Among specimens recovered from sperm whales, the longest "definitely measured" SL is the reported by Clarke (1956:257) and the longest "visually estimated" SL is the attributed to a photograph of a sperm whale with giant squid remains in its jaws (see Hansford, 2009), though Paxton conceded that it is "[n]ot clear how much/what portion of body was eaten". For the "longest visually estimated", more extreme supposed SLs of and are cited to Starkey (1963) and Ellis (1998a:246), respectively (the latter an eyewitness account by Dennis Braun). Paxton treated these last two size estimates as SLs as opposed to TLs because "squid do not generally leave their tentacles exposed except when grabbing prey and this appears to be the case for "Architeuthis"".
Onykia robusta
More than a decade later, the first photographs of a true live giant squid in the wild were taken, on September 30, 2004.
Deep-sea gigantism
Examples of deep-sea gigantism include the giant isopod, giant ostracod, the giant sea spider, the giant amphipod, the Japanese spider crab, the giant oarfish, the deepwater stingray, the seven-arm octopus, and a number of squid species: the colossal squid (up to 14 m in length), the giant squid (up to 12 m), "Onykia robusta", "Taningia danae", "Galiteuthis phyllura", "Kondakovia longimana", and the bigfin squid.
Largest organisms
A member of the order Cetacea, the blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus"), is thought to be the largest animal ever to have lived. The maximum recorded weight was 190 metric tonnes for a specimen measuring , whereas longer ones, up to , have been recorded but not weighed.
Colossal squid
The species was first discovered in the form of two tentacles found in the stomach of a sperm whale in 1925. In 1981, a Russian trawler in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica, caught a large squid with a total length of over , which was later identified as an immature female of "M. hamiltoni". In 2003 a complete specimen of a subadult female was found near the surface with a total length of and a mantle length of . This specimen shows that colossal squids may grow larger than , possibly up to .
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (21st century)
This list of giant squid specimens and sightings from the 21st century is a comprehensive timeline of recent human encounters with members of the genus "Architeuthis", popularly known as giant squid. It includes animals that were caught by fishermen, found washed ashore, recovered (in whole or in part) from sperm whales and other predatory species, as well as those reliably sighted at sea. The list also covers specimens incorrectly assigned to the genus "Architeuthis" in original descriptions or later publications.
Galiteuthis phyllura
In 1984, the Russian stern-trawler "Novoulianovsk" brought up the remains of a gigantic specimen of "G. phyllura" from a depth of 1000–1300 m in the Sea of Okhotsk. Based on this material, which consisted of a 40 cm long arm and 115 cm tentacle, Kir Nesis estimated the mantle length at 265–275 cm, and the total length at over 4 m. This would make it the second largest squid species in terms of mantle length, after only the colossal squid, and even larger than the giant squid. However, Nesis added that "because of its narrow body, we conclude that its mass is consistently lower than that of the other large squids".
Cephalopod size
Cephalopods were at one time the largest of all organisms on Earth (Smith "et al.", 2016), and numerous species of comparable size to the largest present day squids are known from the fossil record, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids. In terms of mass, the largest of all known cephalopods were likely the giant shelled ammonoids and endocerid nautiloids (Teichert & Kummel, 1960:6), though perhaps still second to the largest living cephalopods when considering tissue mass alone (Vermeij, 2016).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Giant squid size—long a subject of both popular debate and academic inquiry (Ellis, 1998b; Paxton, 2016a, b; Bittel, 2016; Romanov "et al.", 2017)—has often been misreported and exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching or even exceeding in total length are widespread, but no animals approaching this size have been scientifically documented in recent times, despite the hundreds of specimens available for study. The "Thimble Tickle specimen" (#46) reported by Verrill (1880a:191) is often cited as the largest giant squid ever recorded, and the specimen described by Kirk (1888) as "Architeuthis longimanus" (#62)—a strangely proportioned animal that has been much commented on—is sometimes cited as the "longest" (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Paxton, 2016a). It is now thought likely that such lengths were achieved by great lengthening of the two long feeding tentacles, analogous to stretching elastic bands, or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Dery, 2013; Roper & Shea, 2013:113; Hanlon & Messenger, 2018:267).
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii, also known as the Grimaldi scaled squid, is a large squid growing to 1 m in mantle length. It is named after the Grimaldi family, reigning house of Monaco. Prince Albert I of Monaco was an amateur teuthologist who pioneered the study of deep sea squids by collecting the 'precious regurgitations' of sperm whales. The Grimaldi scaled squid was first collected from the stomach contents of a sperm whale. It is a widely distributed species in tropical and subtropical areas of the North and South Atlantic, the southern Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, where it has been recorded off Japan and in the west Pacific.
Onychoteuthis borealijaponica
Onychoteuthis borealijaponica, the boreal clubhook squid, is a species of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae. It is the largest member of the genus "Onychoteuthis", reaching a mantle length of 30 cm in males and 37 cm in females. Maturity is reached at 250 mm for males, and 300–350 mm in females. There are 24–27 hooks on each club, which is more than any other species in the genus "Onychoteuthis borealijaponica". It is a pelagic species native to the North Pacific, although it migrates into Subarctic waters during the summer from its more southerly winter spawning grounds.
Ommastrephinae
Ommastrephinae includes the largest species of squids belonging to the family Ommastrephidae, Humboldt squid ("Dosidicus gigas") which can grow to in mantle length (ML). It also contains the smallest squid species belonging to the family, the glass squid ("Hyaloteuthis pelagica") which has a mantle length of only up to . Ommastrephinae are mostly pelagic members of the family Ommastrephidae. All species of this subfamily contain photophores whose locations vary by species. Some species of the subfamily (notably "Sthenoteuthis" and "Ommastrephes") are known for their behavior of leaping out of the water (hence the common names 'flying squid').
Hucho taimen
Coloration varies geographically, but is generally olive green on the head blending to reddish brown in the tail. Adipose, anal, and caudal fins are often dark red. The belly ranges from nearly white to dark gray. The taimen appears to be the largest salmonid in the world, being heavier at average and maximum sizes than the largest North American salmonid, the chinook salmon. Most mature fish caught weigh from . The average length is from . The maximum size is not assured, but supposedly a fish caught in the Kotui River in Russia in 1943 with a length of and a weight of is the largest size recorded. The maximum length is about . The IGFA world record is with a length of . It can reach at least 55 years of age.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (21st century)
The beginning of the 21st century marked a turning point in our understanding of the life habits of the giant squid, as it ushered in the first visually documented and incontrovertible observations of live animals, both adult and paralarval (Dery, 2013; Mullen, 2013; Schrope, 2013). The quest to photograph or film a live giant squid—mooted since at least the 1960s—had begun in earnest in the 1980s and intensified significantly in the following decade, with several multi-million-dollar expeditions launched in the late 1990s. While these were all unsuccessful, they were followed by a steady stream of live giant squid "firsts" in the nascent years of the 21st century, and spurred further efforts that ultimately culminated in the first footage of a live giant squid in its natural deep-ocean habitat—recorded from a manned submersible off Japan's Ogasawara Islands—in 2012.
Cephalopod size
Roper, in his comments on the final draft of this article, was even more conservative, writing, "there are no "confirmed" records of giant squid longer than about 45 feet [] total length. Most are in the 25–35 foot [] range. I have examined specimens in museums and laboratories around the world—perhaps a 100 or so—and I believe the 60 foot number comes from fear, fantasy, and pulling the highly elastic tentacles out to the near breaking point when they are measured on the shore or on deck."
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Preserved giant squid specimens are much sought after for display (Landman & Ellis, 1998; Ablett, 2012). Guerra "et al." (2011:1990) estimated that around 30 were exhibited at museums and aquaria worldwide, while Guerra & Segonzac (2014:118–119) provided an updated list of 35 (21 in national museums and 14 in private institutions). The purpose-built Centro del Calamar Gigante in Luarca, Spain, had by far the largest collection on public display (4 females and 1 male; Guerra & Segonzac, 2014:118), but many of the museum's 14 or so specimens were destroyed during a storm on 2 February 2014 ([Anonymous], 2014b, c). At least 13 specimens were exhibited in Japan as of February 2017, of which 10 had been acquired since 2013 (Shimada "et al.", 2017:9).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Based on a 40-year data set of more than 50 giant squid ("Architeuthis dux") specimens, Roper & Shea (2013:114) suggest an average total length at maturity of and a "rarely encountered maximum length" of . Of the nearly 100 specimens examined by Clyde Roper, the largest was "46 feet (14 m) long" (Cerullo & Roper, 2012:22). O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) give a maximum total length of for females based on the examination of more than 130 specimens, measured "post mortem" and relaxed, as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Steve O'Shea estimated the maximum total length for males at (O'Shea, 2003b). Charles G. M. Paxton performed a statistical analysis using literature records of giant squid specimens and concluded that "squid with a conservative TL of would seem likely based on current data" (Paxton, 2016a, b), but the study has been heavily criticised by experts in the field (Greshko, 2016).
French corvette Alecton
On November 30, or November 17, 1861 the French corvette "Alecton" was, on its way to Cayenne, navigating near Tenerife, the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands. As the ship neared the island the lookout on duty yelled to the crew below: “a large body, partly submerged, on the surface.” The captain, "commandeur" Bouguer, had heard reports of giant squid but the scientific community disputed their existence. Mutilated, decomposed pieces of giant squid had surfaced, most notably off Zealand, Denmark in 1847, and another at The Skaw in 1854. Yet no one had ever captured or even seen a live specimen. Seeing his chance to capture the rare species, the captain ordered the ship to attack and harpoon the squid.
Giant squid
The first photographs of a live giant squid in its natural habitat were taken on 30 September 2004, by Tsunemi Kubodera (National Science Museum of Japan) and Kyoichi Mori (Ogasawara Whale Watching Association). Their teams had worked together for nearly two years to accomplish this. They used a five-ton fishing boat and only two crew members. The images were created on their third trip to a known sperm whale hunting ground south of Tokyo, where they had dropped a line baited with squid and shrimp. The line also held a camera and a flash. After over twenty tries that day, an giant squid attacked the lure and snagged its tentacle. The camera took over 500 photos before the squid managed to break free after four hours. The squid's tentacle remained attached to the lure. Later DNA tests confirmed the animal as a giant squid.
Giant squid
Pliny the Elder, living in the first century AD, also described a gigantic squid in his "Natural History", with the head "as big as a cask", arms long, and carcass weighing .
Bigfin reef squid
The bigfin reef squid is the most widespread species in the genus "Sepioteuthis". It is found in temperate and tropical regions of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Their original range extends east to the Hawaiian Islands, west to the Red Sea, north to Japan, and south to Australia and New Zealand (42°N to 42°S and 32°E to 154°W). The range has also expanded to include parts of the Mediterranean Sea. In 2002, bigfin reef squids were first documented in the Gulf of İskenderun of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. They may have already existed in significant populations in the area as they have acquired a common name among the fishermen of the Aegean Sea – ("soupiocalamaro", literally "cuttlefish-like squid"). It is a Lessepsian migrant, reaching the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.
Mastigoteuthis psychrophila
Mastigoteuthis psychrophila is a species of whip-lash squid. It was first described by Kir Nazimovich Nesis in 1977, based on four individuals found in Antarctic waters. The largest was 143 mm long. The squid's tentacles are 15 mm in diameter, with 0.15 mm diameter club suckers. Integumental photophores are present upon the head, arms and fins. Although uncertain, it is believed to have more than two series of photophores on the arms, differing from other species in the "M. agassizii" group. However, this species, like the rest of the family, is badly in need of revision.
Mollusca
Molluscs are the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine organisms. Numerous molluscs also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are highly diverse, not just in size and in anatomical structure, but also in behaviour and in habitat. The phylum is typically divided into 8 or 9 taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Cephalopod molluscs, such as squid, cuttlefish and octopus, are among the most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates—and either the giant squid or the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate species. The gastropods (snails and slugs) are by far the most numerous molluscs and account for 80% of the total classified species.
Cephalopod size
Size, and particularly maximum size, has been one of the most interesting aspects of cephalopod science to the general public and scientists alike (Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004; O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Guerra & Segonzac, 2014; Hogenboom, 2014; Paxton, 2016a). This is evidenced by the regular coverage given to the giant squid—and more recently, the colossal squid—in both the popular press and academic literature (see Ellis, 1998a; Roper & Shea, 2013; Rosa "et al.", 2017). Due to its status as a charismatic megafaunal species, the giant squid has been proposed as an emblematic animal for marine invertebrate conservation (Guerra "et al.", 2011). Life-sized models of the giant squid are a common sight in natural history museums around the world (Tratz, 1973; Ellis, 1997a, b), and preserved specimens are much sought after for display (Landman & Ellis, 1998; Ablett, 2012).
Giant cephalopods have fascinated humankind since time immemorial. The earliest surviving records are perhaps those of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, both of whom described squids of very large size (Gerhardt, 1966:171; Muntz, 1995; Ellis, 1998a:11). Tales of giant squid have been common among mariners since ancient times, and may have inspired the monstrous kraken of Nordic legend, said to be as large as an island and capable of engulfing and sinking any ship (Salvador & Tomotani, 2014). Similar tentacled sea monsters are known from other parts of the globe, including the Akkorokamui of Japan and Te Wheke-a-Muturangi of New Zealand. The Lusca of the Caribbean and Scylla in Greek mythology may also derive from giant squid sightings (Ley, 1941), as might eyewitness accounts of other sea monsters such as sea serpents (Lee, 1883; Ellis, 1994b).
List of giant squid specimens and sightings
Tales of giant squid have been common among mariners since ancient times, but the animals were long considered mythical, and often associated with the kraken of Nordic legend (Rees, 1949; Salvador & Tomotani, 2014; Hogenboom, 2014). Scientific acceptance did not materialise until specimens became available to zoologists in the second half of the 19th century, beginning with the formal naming of "Architeuthis dux" by Japetus Steenstrup in 1857, from fragmentary Bahamian material collected two years earlier (#14 on this list; Steenstrup, 1857:183; validated in Harting, 1860:11). The giant squid came to public prominence in 1861 when the French corvette "Alecton" encountered a live animal (#18) at the surface while navigating near Tenerife. A report of the incident filed by the ship's captain (Bouyer, 1861) was almost certainly seen by Jules Verne and adapted by him for the description of the monstrous squid in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (Ellis, 1998a:79).
Cephalopod size
The giant and colossal squids have the largest recorded eyes of any living animal, with a maximum diameter of at least and a pupil (Nilsson "et al.", 2012:683). This is three times the size of the largest fish eyes—up to in swordfish—and more than twice the diameter of the largest whale eyes—up to , , and in blue, humpback, and sperm whales, respectively—which are the largest among vertebrates (Nilsson "et al.", 2012:683). A large colossal squid caught in 2014 and dissected at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa reportedly had eyes across (Farquhar, 2014). There are unconfirmed reports from the 19th century of giant squid eyes up to across (Land & Nilsson, 2012:86). Only the extinct ichthyosaurs are known to have approached these dimensions (Motani "et al.", 1999; Humphries & Ruxton, 2002), with some species having eyes up to in diameter (Nilsson "et al.", 2012:687).
Giant squid
By the turn of the 21st century, the giant squid remained one of the few extant megafauna to have never been photographed alive, either in the wild or in captivity. Marine biologist and author Richard Ellis described it as "the most elusive image in natural history". In 1993, an image purporting to show a diver with a live giant squid (identified as "Architeuthis dux") was published in the book "European Seashells". However, the animal in this photograph was a sick or dying "Onykia robusta", not a giant squid. The first footage of live (larval) giant squid ever captured on film was in 2001. The footage was shown on "Chasing Giants: On the Trail of the Giant Squid" on the Discovery Channel.
List of giant squid specimens and sightings (21st century)
In 2001 Steve O'Shea succeeded in capturing the first footage of a live giant squid when he caught and filmed several paralarval individuals in captivity (#428; Baird, 2002; Young, 2002). This milestone was followed by the first images of a live "adult" giant squid (at the surface) on 15 January 2002, near Goshiki beach in Amino-cho, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (#442). The animal, which measured about in mantle length and in total length, was found near the water's surface. It was captured and tied to a quay, where it died overnight ([Anonymous], 2002b; O'Shea, 2003f; Hellwarth, 2012). These images were joined by a number of little-publicised photographs of live adults at the surface off Okinawa (#449, 450, and 464). Renewed interest in filming a live giant squid followed the of an enormous specimen of bigfin squid (?Magnapinnidae) at great depth off Hawaii, which received global media attention (Morelli, 2002a), and the observation of a possible giant squid egg mass in early 2002 (#443; [Anonymous], 2002d). This included further efforts by O'Shea to capture live paralarval specimens (Morelli, 2002b; Grann, 2004) and another unsuccessful attempt to film a live adult in the wild, dubbed "Proyecto Kraken" ("Project Kraken"), made off the Spanish coast of Asturias in September 2002 and led by giant squid expert Ángel Guerra (Barreiro, 2002; Sitges, 2003; Soriano, 2003; Guerra, 2013). Amid growing competition between researchers, in September 2003 it was reported that O'Shea was leading a team that planned to image a live giant squid by suspending cameras in the water column that would release "puréed" female gonads to attract a male ([Anonymous], 2003c).
Cephalopod size
A subadult female found in the Ross Sea in March 2003 also had a mantle length of around , and measured in total length, but was comparatively light at only (Griggs, 2003; McClain "et al.", 2015). Another giant specimen, a female measuring in total length and weighing , was recovered intact in 2014 (Farquhar, 2014). Other notably large colossal squid specimens include an immature female taken by trawl off Dronning Maud Land in 1981 ( ML and TL; Ellis, 1998a:147), a specimen caught alive in South Georgian waters in 2005 (estimated TL and weight; [Anonymous], 2005b), and two specimens recovered from sperm whale stomachs between 1956 and 1957 off the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands (reportedly around TL, respectively; Sweeney & Roper, 2001:56; see Korabelnikov, 1959:103 and Yukhov, 1974:62).
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The museum has the world's largest specimen of the rare colossal squid ("Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"). It weighs and is long. The squid arrived at the museum in March 2007 after being captured by New Zealand fisherman in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. The cultural collections include collections on photography, Māori taonga (cultural treasures), and Pacific cultures.
Giant Squid (band)
Giant Squid was originally found in 2002 in Sacramento, California, after the members, Aaron John Gregory (guitar, lead vocals), Bryan Beeson (bass guitar), Bill Hughes (guitar), and Aurielle Zeitler (keyboards, vocals), had been playing in Northern California under the monikers Koi and Namor. The band self-released its debut album "Metridium Field" in 2004 through its own record label, Tyrannosaurus Records. "Metridium Field" contained re-recorded versions of the songs "Revolution in the Water" and "Ampullae of Lorenzini", two tracks originally released locally in 2002 as a two-song CD under the band's previous name, Namor.
Ross Sea
A 10-metre (32.8 feet) long colossal squid weighing 495 kilograms (1,091 lb) was captured in the Ross Sea on February 22, 2007.
Hans Egede
Hans Egede also gave one of the oldest descriptions of a sea serpent commonly believed to have been a giant squid. On 6 July 1734 he wrote that his ship was off the Greenland coast when those on board "saw a most terrible creature, resembling nothing they saw before. The monster lifted its head so high that it seemed to be higher than the crow's nest on the mainmast. The head was small and the body short and wrinkled. The unknown creature was using giant fins which propelled it through the water. Later the sailors saw its tail as well. The monster was longer than our whole ship".
Colossal squid
The colossal squid ("Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni", from Greek "mesos" (middle), "onycho" (claw, nail), and "teuthis" (squid)), sometimes called the Antarctic squid or giant cranch squid, is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only known member of the genus "Mesonychoteuthis". It is known from only a few specimens, and current estimates put its maximum size at long and weighing possibly up to , based on analysis of smaller and immature specimens, making it the largest-known invertebrate.
Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish
The Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish ("Astacopsis gouldi"), also called Tasmanian giant freshwater lobster, is the largest freshwater invertebrate and the largest freshwater crayfish species in the world . The species is only found in the rivers below above sea level in northern Tasmania, an island-state of Australia. It is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List due to overfishing and habitat degradation, and it has been prohibited to catch the crayfish since 1998.
Squid giant synapse
The squid giant synapse is a chemical synapse found in squid. It is the largest chemical junction in nature.