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".
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).