 The hooks of a colossal squid.
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April 3, 2003 — An extremely rare, dangerous squid with swiveling hooks on its tentacles for snagging prey has been captured in the Ross Sea in Antarctica, say scientists in New Zealand.
Like the more familiar giant squid (Architeuthis dux), the so-called colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) normally dwells in the deep ocean. But juveniles like this one often come to the surface, and when it was caught recently by fishermen, the squid was attacking their catch as they tried to haul it in.
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According to Steve O'Shea, a Discovery Channel Quest scientist and senior research fellow at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, who is studying the animal, this squid is larger than any he has seen in the 105 squid he's studied.
The body, or mantle, is 2.5 meters long (about 8 feet). The total length, including the tentacles, is 6 meters (19.5 feet). The largest giant squid specimen he has seen has a 2.25-meter-long (7 feet) mantle, O'Shea said.
The animal's lower beak rostral length measures 37 mm (1.5 inches), he said; the longest squid lower beak rostral length ever seen is 48 mm (2 inches).
"This is a solid hunk of killing animal. I would not want to be in the water with even a baby one," O'Shea told Discovery News.
This squid, a female, he said, is a "sub-adult" — a teenager of the species. O'Shea said it was possible that adult colossal squid reached body lengths of up to 4 meters (13 feet), and total lengths of 30 to 40 feet.
What sets the colossal squid apart from others in the squid family are its tentacles, equipped at the ends with rotating barbs that can inflict serious damage, judging by the condition of a sperm whale that washed up recently on a New Zealand beach with colossal squid beaks in its stomach. O'Shea said the whale was crisscrossed with long, deep lacerations, presumably from fighting with colossal squid.
The colossal squid's arms are lined with a combination of suckers and hooks, compared with the giant squid's arms, which are lined with suckers with small teeth.
"Its barbs can be compared to the talons of a bird or eagle or a lion," O'Shea said.
Because the remote, cold environment in which the squid lives has been so little explored, the animal's history, diet and behavior are unknown. And this is where Clyde Roper, another leading expert on giant squid, warned about speculating on the adult size, behavior and disposition of the beast without observing it in nature.
As for suggestions that the colossal squid was an aggressive species, Roper said. "Again, in the total absence of evidence and observation this is pure speculation. Anthropomorphizing in the absence of data seems inappropriate at this stage of our knowledge."
Roper also questioned whether the squid under study was actually a juvenile. "Squid mature extremely rapidly in their late stages of development, with massive (nearly all) energy going into egg and sperm production, not into additional body (somatic) growth. So this animal could become completely mature, mate, spawn and die without becoming any bigger," he said.
O'Shea said there were only seven colossal squid specimen around, one of which is in Australia, soon to be shipped to New Zealand. This animal was caught alive in Australia at 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) a few years back, he said, something that makes him hopeful of finding the beasts closer to home base in New Zealand.
"There are colossal squid just south of New Zealand," he said.
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