A 3-meter-long squid floats in the waters off Tenerife in the Canary Islands, nearly intact, missing only its tentacle head.
The squid is so intact that it still has its eyes. (Photo: SECAC)
The 200kg squid was discovered by Teo Lucas, a naturalist and photographer, and transferred to the Spanish Oceanographic Institute for further research, as reported by Newsweek on October 19. “Most specimens studied or displayed in museums come from the stomachs of sperm whales washed ashore, so they are in poor condition and often incomplete,” said Jon Ablett, curator of mollusks and cephalopods at the Natural History Museum in London.
The new specimen is nearly completely intact. Even the giant eyes, the largest in the animal kingdom, remain in their sockets. The only missing part is the tentacle head, which may have been bitten off by the animal that killed the squid. In a Facebook post on October 14, the Canary Islands Cetacean Research Society (SECAC) stated that the enormous squid is relatively young, and that mature squids can grow much larger.
According to Ablett, the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) can reach lengths of up to 12 meters. Another species, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), is larger than the giant squid in both mass and length, although no intact adult specimens have yet been found.
Despite their massive size, giant squids are rarely encountered, making it difficult to estimate their populations. “Based on estimates derived from analyzing the stomach contents of sperm whales, which specialize in hunting mature giant squids, we do not think giant squids are rare in nature. Research by Clyde Rober and Elizabeth Shea estimates that 131 million giant squids are consumed by sperm whales each year,” Ablett noted.
Giant squids inhabit all the world’s oceans. They are more commonly found in the waters around New Zealand and Japan, the North Atlantic, and South Africa. Despite their elusive nature, researchers know relatively little about them. Therefore, analyzing the intact specimen found by Lucas could provide important information about their biological characteristics.
