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Learn about the giant squid, the largest invertebrate on Earth, with huge eyes and eight arms. Find out how they hunt, swim, and what they eat in this article with photos and map.
Learn about the giant squid, a mollusk with two fins, eight arms, and two long tentacles. Find out how big it is, what it eats, and how it sees in the dark.
- Giant Squid Profile
- Interesting Giant Squid Facts
- Giant Squid Fact-File Summary
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There’s an animal that has inspired legends since the dawn of seafaring humans. It’s a Kraken from the deep, with long tentacles and enormous eyes, and a powerful crushing beak, yet it has no bones and hunts its prey in the inky depths of the ocean. Nobody knows how deep it lives; in fact, nobody knows much about it at all, and only a handful have ...
1. They’re Gigantic
This isn’t just a comment on their impressive size, it’s also a reference to a biological adaptation known as ‘gigantism’. The deep sea isn’t very well studied, but it’s thought that food down there is incredibly scarce. Why, then, would an animal like this squid, and many other deep-sea animals evolve to be enormous? One issue is the temperature. One of the first places gigantism was studied was in the frigid shallow waters of Antarctica, where numerous animals have adapted to the freezing w...
2. They’re enigmatic
This is a bit of an understatement. Until recently there were so few specimens to go on, and what was collected was generally preserved from whale stomachs or what had washed up on beaches. Still, from these samples, it has been possible to form a draft genome of the animal, measure the concentrations of different minerals in their beaks and itemize the gut contents of more complete specimens. From these, it’s possible to make a bunch of extrapolations, but before we get to those, let’s take...
3. They have the longest tentacles of any squid
These make up most of their amazing length, and the tentacles have hundreds of suction cups between 2-5 cm in size. They are outlined in serrated rings of chitin, which allow the giant squid to attack prey and defend itself against predators, which can include sperm whales, killer whales and sharks.
Scientific Classification
1. Donavyn Coffey (2022), “Why are there so many giants in the deep sea?“, Live Science. 2. J. K. Cochran, R. Cerrato, J. Mak, C. F. E. Roper & C. C. Lu (2004), “Habitat and age of the giant squid (Architeuthis sanctipauli) inferred from isotopic analyses“, Marine Biology. 3. William J Broad (1997), “When Giant Squids Mate, It’s a Stab in the Dark“, New York Times. 4. Dan-Eric Nilsson (2012), “A Unique Advantage for Giant Eyes in Giant Squid“, ScienceDirect.
Learn about the elusive and mysterious giant squid, one of the largest invertebrates on earth. Discover its size, habitat, diet, lifespan, mating, and more from this web page.
Mar 5, 2024 · Like all squid, a giant squid has a mantle (torso), eight arms, and two longer tentacles (the longest known tentacles of any cephalopod). The arms and tentacles account for much of the squid's great length, making it much lighter than its chief predator, the sperm whale .
Giant squid, any member of a genus of large, elusive cephalopods inhabiting deep regions of temperate to subtropical marine waters. Thought to be the largest or second largest living invertebrate, the giant squid has been frequently depicted as a sea monster in literature and by mariners throughout history.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The giant squid remains largely a mystery to scientists despite being the biggest invertebrate on Earth. The largest of these elusive giants ever found measured 59 feet in length and weighed...
Learn about the giant squid, the largest living invertebrate, and its features, habitat, and diet. Find out how it grows, how it sees, and what predators it has.
