First images of a living giant squid

[FrediSub]

Blue waters at a deep of 900m/3000f? :06: uhmmmmm VERY clean waters in Japan...

 

[raposarose]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4288772.stm

It lost a tentacle in the struggle. Do they grow back? Is this like a lizard losing a tale or is the creature permanantly crippled?

 

[archman]

From one of the press releases, the scientist said that the tentacle would not grow back. He also said the animal was not in immediate danger from losing it.

That's diplomatically putting it. The squid will suffer much reduced feeding efficiency. It's almost as bad as losing one of your own arms.

 

[RIOceanographer]

Blue waters at a deep of 900m/3000f? :06: uhmmmmm VERY clean waters in Japan...

All the light in that picture is from the strobe on the camera.

Here is what they said in the paper I linked in my earlier post:
"The giant squid was hunting at 900 m during the day (09.15 h), a depth below the deepest penetration of light from the surface."

 

[RIOceanographer]

Here is a neat bit of trivia. Most people don't realize that there is another species of squid in the ocean that probably gets even bigger than the giant squid.

It is called Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, aka the colossal squid. It lives around the Antarctic so they are even less often encountered than the elusive giant squid.

Here is an article from when they caught one a couple of years ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

 

[PeaceDog]

RI:

Thanks for the link. Archetuthis gets the press, but this hamiltonis seems to be the badass on the block....

 

[archman]

Here in the Gulf of Mexico, our "giant squid" are Pholidoteuthis, which top out around 40lbs and maybe 2 meters long. How embarassing.

 

[Wildcard]

But what do they taste like? ..........This is some cool stuff! And we are exploring space?

 

[RIOceanographer]

But what do they taste like? ..........This is some cool stuff! And we are exploring space?

I can see the restaurant special now "$19.95 Giant Squid Calamari, eat the whole thing yourself, get a second one free!"

Giant squid have a very high concentration of ammonia in their tissue, and I have a rule about eating anything that smells like a floor cleaner so I think I will pass on that meal....

 

[DavidPT40]

Sperm whales dine on giant squid quite frequently. So apparently the squid have a high reproductive rate, since they are still around.

This isnt the first time giant squid have been caught on camera. A couple of years ago, a ship with a crew from the Discovery Channel captured some giant squid larvae. However, all the larvae died before the ship could get back to shore.