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".
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 .