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".
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 .