Comments on: Largest Colossal Squid Ever

By: TazLlama

TazLlama — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:22:20 +0000

I live in Tasmania, Australia and I can assure you the “Colossal Squid” (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) could grow significantly larger than the one above.

Firstly, this is the largest Colossal Squid to be caught ALIVE. There have been three separate Colossal Squid wash up on the Tasmanian Mainland. Tasmania is actually a group of islands, not one singular island as many world maps seem to show.

Quote:

Giant Squid Washes Ashore In Tasmania
By Bijal P. Trivedi
National Geographic Today
July 26, 2002

The squid weighs about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) and was found in two pieces on Seven Mile Beach. Though her longest tentacles have been lost, estimates based on her remaining arms suggest she would have been around 50 feet—a little larger than the average giant squid.

Two others have washed ashore in the same general area in the last 16 years—the first on July 19, 1986 and the second on July 20, 1991.

Just thought you may like to know!

By: Irish227

Irish227 — Fri, 25 May 2007 04:09:06 +0000

Sordes, the 12in. sucker marks come from the tentacle marks growing with the whales. So if baby whales have squid encounters when young, sucker scars grow to huge proportions.
And Rich from Idaho, the squids have ammonia in their blood to give buoyancy. It tastes TERRIBLE!

By: Erica

Erica — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:47:31 +0000

I have heard that centuries ago, when trade was always via ships, that there were many encounters with Sea “Monsters”. Then they don’t know what to make of them, they didn’t have the knowledge we have now they only knew that something horrendously gigantic was eating they’re ships, their cargo and their sailors. Hundreds of years ago, there was no way to truly prove the experiences of those who survived those deadly confrontations. So they became legends, and only now do we see traces from the past horrors that many a sailor encountered, seem to be coming to life. Their tales, tales no longer, but heroic stories of the past. Could this be the beginning of the age old question to Bermuda Triangle disappearences, is there something bigger out there that mankind has yet to believe?

By: kittenz

kittenz — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:32:32 +0000

I read on Where Light Meets Dark about another large squid that was pulled in (already dead) near the Florida keys. It was not an Architeuthis . Some were speculating that it could be an immature Mesonychoteuthis; others that it might be a previously undiscovered species. I have not seen or heard any more about it though.

By: Notsobigfoot

Notsobigfoot — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:32:27 +0000

wowsers, i had no idea there was a bigger squid out there than our buddy archie. Thanks for posting this one.

By: MBFH

MBFH — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:36:19 +0000

Thanks Sordes

By: Sordes

Sordes — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:42:49 +0000

The largest known giant squid (Architeuthis dux) was about 13m in length and had a weight of about 220kg. But most of their complete length consists of their two long tentacles, the body of a 10m long colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is much bigger and heaver, the difference in total length is just some ounces of tentacle tissue. Anyway, this was the largest colossal squid which is known until now. Most probably females are a bit bigger and reach a length of about 14m or so.

By: MBFH

MBFH — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:33:46 +0000

Can someone explain something for me please, I may be mssing the obvious. At 10m this is the largest Colossal Squid ever caught? The diagram with sperm whale shows the Giant Squid at 13m. Is the a recorded length for a Giant Squid? If so does that mean the largest Colossal Squid still isn’t as large as the largest Giant Squid? Or it just a weight thing as suggested?

I’m confused…

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:55:41 +0000

Sordes is right about the sucker marks. It is a common misconception that whales are found with huge sucker marks that point to enormous monster squid. Rather, it is the beaks of the squid found in the whales stomachs that usually give a clue to the size of some of the squid out there.

By: Heylen

Heylen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:13:34 +0000

No es el más grande, es el más pesado. En Santa Cruz de Tenerife en 1998 la embarcación Batros I capturo un ejemplar de Architeutix Dux de también 10 metros de longitud y 350 kg de peso, por lo cual no es el más grande, sino el mas pesado.

En la actualidad ese ejemplar se encuentra congelado en el museo de Ciencias Naturales de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, donde han construido una maqueta de resina a tamaño natural.