The colossal squid on board the San Aspiring with skipper John Bennett.
Credit: New Zealand Government
SYDNEY: Fishermen have pulled in a 10-metre colossal squid weighing nearly half a tonne from the frigid waters south of New Zealand.
"It's phenomenal," said Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at the Auckland Institute of Technology on New Zealand's North Island. "We have accounts that [the squid weighs] 450 kg … which would make this the heaviest squid ever recorded."
It's believed that the squid is a male - never before described, according to O'Shea. "Sexing squid is very difficult … but male squid are usually half to three-quarters the size of female squid. If this is a male," he explained, "it means we've got an even larger female out there."
Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) are not to be confused with the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), said O'Shea. "The giant squid is just a scaled-up version of the common arrow [shaped] squid - the calamari that everyone would eat." He explained. "It's a very slender squid, and we've looked at about 130 of these, with a maximum weight of 275 kilograms."
However, said O'Shea, the colossal squid - native to Antarctic waters - is a very heavy, short and stocky animal, with a huge spherical mantle and two enormous muscular fins that propel the animal through the water.
Giant squid have eyes that can be as big as soccer balls, but according to O'Shea, it's thought that the eyes of colossal squid could reach half a metre in diameter - making them by far the largest in the animal kingdom. "It's enormous," he said. "A completely different animal to the giant squid."
Both the giant and collosal squid have eight arms and two longer tentacles. But while the appendages of giant squid have rows of simple suction cups down their length, the colossal squid's suckers are armed with swivelling hooks.
Only a handful of the enigmatic animals have been caught, and the 10 metre-long specimen announced yesterday is thought to be the first intact adult specimen of the species.
The fishing vessel San Aspiring, owned by New Zealand's Sanford seafood company, was trolling for Patagonian toothfish - better known by their commercial name of Chilean sea bass - when it snagged the near half-tonne cephalopod. "The squid was almost dead when it reached the surface," said New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton, and it was actually eating a toothfish when it was pulled aboard.
The squid, now frozen, will be transported to New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa, in the capital city of Wellington. "[It] will be photographed, measured, tissue sampled, registered and preserved intact in the Natural Environment collection. On-going examination of this giant will help to unlock some of the mysteries of the deep ocean," said Anderton. "Even basic questions such as how large does this species grow to, and how long does it live for, are not yet known."
More information:
Patagonian Toothfish are a
Patagonian Toothfish are a threatened species as well.
Colossal Squid compose 77% of the sperm whale’s diet
The Giant squid are often featured in maritime legends and novels such as Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (http://www.monsterssightings.com/sea-monster-sightings/colossal-squid.html) Though little is known about the specie, biologists believe that Colossal Squid compose 77% of the sperm whale’s diet.