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Giant squid size, particularly total length, has often been exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching and even exceeding 20 m (66 ft) are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented.
Learn about the giant squid, a large and elusive cephalopod that may be the largest living invertebrate. Find out its size, features, diet, habitat, and how it has been depicted in literature and culture.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Anatomy, Diversity & Evolution. Anatomy. A giant squid’s body may look pretty simple: Like other squids and octopuses, it has two eyes, a beak, eight arms, two feeding tentacles, and a funnel (also called a siphon).
- Ecology & Behavior. Distribution. Giant squid are thought to swim in the ocean worldwide, based on the beaches they've washed upon, as shown in the map (via Wikimedia Commons).
- Squids at the Smithsonian. Meet Clyde Roper. Dr. Clyde Roper grew up close to the ocean and was a lobster fisherman before going to graduate school, where he studied squid.
- Cultural Connections. Giant Squid of Myth. The giant squid has captured the human imagination for more than 2,000 years. For a long time, people who spotted them floating, dead, at sea or washed up on beaches couldn’t figure out what they were.
Learn about the largest invertebrate on Earth, its elusive habitat, its massive eyes, and its diet. See photos of a live giant squid caught by Japanese researchers in 2006.
Nov 27, 2022 · The giant squid, found in every ocean, is estimated to reach up to about 40 to 45 feet (12 to 14 meters) long from the tip of its body to the tip of its tentacles and weigh about...
Sep 15, 2021 · Size: Up to 66 feet (20 m) long. Life span: Less than 5 years. Conservation status: Least concern. Squid have eight arms and two tentacles, with spiked suckers that help grasp and pull...
Learn about the largest living invertebrates, their mysterious lives and how they differ from octopuses. Find out how scientists are revealing the secrets of these cephalopods using new technologies and specimens.
