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Colossal squid
Species of squid

The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), the only member of its genus, is the largest squid by mass and belongs to the family Cranchiidae, known as glass squids. Sometimes confused with the giant squid of genus Architeuthis, it can weigh up to 700 kg, making it the biggest living invertebrate. Its eyes, the largest ever recorded, measure up to 40 cm across. Found in the Southern Ocean, the colossal squid is an ambush predator feeding on fish and is preyed upon by sperm whales, whose stomachs often yield squid beaks used to estimate size.

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Morphology

The colossal squid shares features common to all squids: a mantle for locomotion, one pair of gills, a beak or tooth, and certain external characteristics like eight arms and two tentacles, a head, and two fins.14 In general, the morphology and anatomy of the colossal squid are the same as any other squid.15 However, there are certain morphological characteristics that separate the colossal squid from other squids in its family: the colossal squid is the only squid in its family whose arms and tentacles are equipped with hooks, either swiveling or three-pointed.16 There are squids in other families that also have hooks, but no other squid in the family Cranchiidae.17

Unlike most squid species, the colossal squid exhibits abyssal gigantism, as it is the heaviest living invertebrate species, reaching weights up to 495 kg (1,091 lb).18 For comparison, squids typically have a mantle length of about 30 cm (12 in) and weigh about 100–200 g (3+1⁄2–7 oz).19

The colossal squid also has the largest eyes documented in the animal kingdom, with a diameter of 27–30 cm (11–12 in).2021

Distribution and habitat

The squid's known range extends thousands of kilometres north of Antarctica to southern South America, southern South Africa, and the southern tip of New Zealand, making it primarily an inhabitant of the circumantarctic Southern Ocean.22 Colossal squid are also often sighted near Cooperation Sea and Ross Sea because of its prey and competitor, the Antarctic toothfish.23 The region between the Weddell Sea and the western Kerguelen archipelago has been deemed a "hotspot" based on characteristics of the habitat.24 The squid's vertical distribution appears to correlate directly with age. Young squid are found between 0–500 m (0–1,640 ft), adolescent squid are found 500–2,000 m (1,600–6,600 ft) and adult squid are found primarily within the mesopelagic and bathypelagic regions of the open ocean.25

Behavior

Feeding

While little is known about their behavior, colossal squid are believed to feed primarily on small fish, such as lanternfish and deep-sea smelt, which have been found as stomach contents in adult specimens.26 They also attack larger fish; of 8,000 Antarctic toothfish brought aboard by trawlers between 2011 and 2014, seventy-one showed clear signs of attack by colossal squid.27 A study in Prydz Bay region of Antarctica found squid remains in a female colossal squid's stomach, suggesting the possibility of cannibalism within this species.28 Studies measuring the δ15N content of the chitinous beaks of cephalopods to determine trophic ecology levels have demonstrated that the colossal squid is a top predator that is positively correlated with its increased size.29 This new confirmation of the colossal squid's trophic level suggests that it likely preys on large fishes and smaller squids, according to its size, and that its predators include sperm whales and sleeper sharks.30

Metabolism

The colossal squid is thought to have a very slow metabolic rate, needing only around 30 grams (1 oz) of prey daily for an adult with a mass of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb).31 Estimates of its energy requirements suggest it is a slow-moving ambush predator, using its large eyes primarily for prey-detection rather than engaging in active hunting.3233

Predation

Many sperm whales have scars on their backs that are believed to be caused by the hooks of colossal squid. Colossal squid are a major prey item for sperm whales in the Antarctic; 14% of the squid beaks found in the stomachs of these sperm whales are those of the colossal squid, which indicates that colossal squid likely make up 77% of the biomass consumed by these whales.34 Many other animals also feed on colossal squid, including the beaked whales, such as southern bottlenose whales, and Cuvier's and Baird's beaked whales. Other possible predators include the pilot whale, killer whales, larger southern elephant seals, Patagonian toothfish,35 southern sleeper sharks (Somniosus antarcticus), Antarctic toothfish, and albatrosses (e.g., the wandering and sooty albatrosses).36 Beaks from mature adults have only been recovered from large predators (i.e. sperm whales and southern sleeper sharks), while other predators only eat juveniles or young adults.37

Reproduction

Not much is known about the colossal squid's reproductive cycle, although it does have two distinct sexes. Many species of squid, however, develop sex-specific organs as they age and develop.38 The adult female colossal squid has been discovered in much shallower waters, which likely implies that females spawn in shallower waters, rather than their usual depth.39 Additionally, the colossal squid has a high possible fecundity reaching over 4.2 million oocytes, which is quite high compared to other squids in such cold waters.40 Colossal squid oocytes have been observed at sizes ranging from as large as 3.2x2.1 mm to as small as 1.4x0.5 mm. Sampling of colossal squid ovaries show an average of 2175 eggs per gram.41 Young squid are thought to spawn near the summer time at surface temperatures of −0.9–0 °C (30.4–32.0 °F).42

Vision

For pelagic organisms of similar weight to the colossal squid, such as the swordfish, the average eye diameter required for visual detection is 10 cm, but the colossal squid's are as large as 30 cm (12 in).4344 This allowed for an increase in visual detection strategies, including reduced diffraction blurring and greater contrast distinction, which must be extremely beneficial to the colossal squid to justify the large energetic expenses to grow, move, camouflage, and maintain these eyes.45 The colossal squid's increased pupil size has been mathematically proven to overcome the visual complications of the pelagic zone (the combination of downwelling daylight, bioluminescence, and light scattering with increasing distance), especially by monitoring larger volumes of water at once and by detecting long-range changes in plankton bioluminescence via the physical disruption of large moving objects (e.g., sperm whales).46

The colossal squid's eyes glow in the dark via long, rectangular light-producing photophores located next to the lens on the front of both eyeballs.47 Symbiotic bacteria reside within these photophores and luminesce through chemical reaction.48

It is hypothesized that the colossal squid's eyes can detect predator movement beyond 120 m, which is the upper limit of the sperm whale's sonar range.49

Hearing

Squid have been found to detect the movement of sound waves via organs called statocysts (similar to the human cochlea).50 Squid statocysts likely respond to low-frequency sounds less than 500 Hz, similar to pelagic fish.51 Colossal squid are likely essentially deaf to high frequencies, such as whale sonar, so they rely largely on visual detection mechanisms to avoid predation.5253

History of knowledge

Main article: List of colossal squid specimens and sightings

The colossal squid, species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was discovered in 1925.54 This species belongs to the class Cephalopoda and family Cranchiidae.55

In 1981, an adult specimen was discovered; in 2003, a second specimen was collected.5657 Captured in 2007, the largest colossal squid weighed 495 kilograms (1,091 lb),58 and is now on display at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.5960

Most of the time, full colossal squid specimens are not collected; as of 2015, only 12 complete colossal squids had ever been recorded, with only half of these being full adults.61 Beak remnants of the colossal squid are commonly collected; 55 beaks of colossal squids have been recorded in total.62 Less commonly (four times), a fin, mantle, arm or tentacle of a colossal squid has been collected.63

First collected specimens

The species was first discovered in the form of two arm crowns found in the stomach of a sperm whale in the winter of 1924–1925.64 This species, named Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni after E. Hamilton who made the initial discovery, was formally described by Guy Coburn Robson in 1925.65

Entire collected specimens

In 1981, a Soviet Russian trawler in the Ross Sea, off the coast of Antarctica, caught a large squid with a total length of over 4 m (13 ft), which was later identified as an immature female of M. hamiltoni.66 In 2003, a complete specimen of a subadult female was found near the surface with a total length of 6 m (20 ft) and a mantle length of 2.5 m (8 feet 3 inches).67 In 2005, the first full living specimen was captured at a depth of 1,625 m (5,331 ft) while taking a toothfish from a longline off South Georgia Island.68 Although the mantle was not brought aboard, its length was estimated at over 2.5 m (8 feet 3 inches), and the tentacles measured 2.3 metres (7 feet 7 inches).69 The animal is thought to have weighed between 150 and 200 kg (330 and 440 lb).70

Largest known specimen

See also: Cephalopod size

The largest recorded specimen was a female, which are thought to be larger than males, captured in February 2007 by a New Zealand fishing boat in the Ross Sea off Antarctica.71 The squid was close to death when it was captured and subsequently was taken back to New Zealand for scientific study.72 The specimen was initially estimated to measure about 10 metres in total length and weigh about 450 kg.

Defrosting and dissection, April–May 2008

Thawing and dissection of the specimen took place at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.73 AUT biologist Steve O'Shea, Tsunemi Kubodera, and AUT biologist Kat Bolstad were invited to the museum to aid in the process, joined by Marine Ecologist Mark Fenwick and Dutch scientist Olaf Blaauw.74 Media reports suggested scientists at the museum were considering using a giant microwave to defrost the squid because thawing it at room temperature would take several days and it would likely begin to decompose on the outside while the core remained frozen.75 However, they later opted for the more conventional approach of thawing the specimen in a bath of salt water.76 After thawing, it was found that the specimen was 495 kg with a mantle length of 2.5 m and a total length of only 4.2 m, probably because the tentacles shrank once the squid was dead.77

Parts of the specimen have been examined:

  • The beak is considerably smaller than some found in the stomachs of sperm whales,7879 suggesting that some other colossal squid are much larger than this one.8081
  • The eye is 27 cm (10+1⁄2 in) wide, with a lens 12 cm (4+1⁄2 in) across. This is the largest eye of any known animal.82 These measurements are of the partly collapsed specimen; when the squid was alive, the eye was probably 3083 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) across.84
  • Inspection of the specimen with an endoscope revealed ovaries containing thousands of eggs.85

Exhibition

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa began displaying this specimen from 13 December 2008. The exhibition was closed between 2018 and 2019, but it was reopened for public viewing at Te Papa.86

Filming in natural habitat

In 2022–23 there were several attempts made by scientists, including an ocean exploration non-profit called KOLOSSAL, to find and film the colossal squid in its natural habitat for the first time to learn more about its biology and ecological behavior.8788 The science team used a tourism vessel8990 to survey 36 locations throughout the Southern Ocean and may have filmed a small juvenile colossal squid for the first time. Researchers have confirmed that that video is of a species of glass squid, but due to marine snow, the footage has been harder to confirm without a DNA analysis, and may instead represent Galiteuthis glacialis or a new species of glass squid unknown to science.91929394

On 9 March 2025, for the first time, a confirmed colossal squid was filmed in its natural environment during an expedition near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The squid, a juvenile measuring around 30 cm (12 in) long, was captured on video at a depth of 600 m (2,000 ft) by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian.9596

Conservation status

The colossal squid has been assessed as a species of "least concern" on the IUCN Red List.97 Colossal squid are not targeted by fishers; rather, they are only caught when they attempt to feed on fish caught on hooks.98 Additionally, due to their habitat, interactions between humans and colossal squid are considered rare.99

See also

Further reading

  • Aldridge, A.E. (2009). "Can beak shape help to research the life history of squid?". New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 43 (5): 1061–1067. Bibcode:2009NZJMF..43.1061A. doi:10.1080/00288330.2009.9626529. S2CID 85883651.
  • (in Russian) Klumov, S.K. & V.L. Yukhov 1975. Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925 (Cephalopoda, Oegopsida). Antarktika Doklady Komission 14: 159–189. [English translation: TT 81–59176, Al Ahram Center for Scientific Translations]
  • McSweeny, E.S. (1970). "Description of the juvenile form of the Antarctic squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson". Malacologia. 10: 323–332.
  • Rodhouse, P.G.; Clarke, M.R. (1985). "Growth and distribution of young Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): an Antarctic squid". Vie Milieu. 35 (3–4): 223–230.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. Wikispecies has information related to Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni.

References

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  2. McClain, Craig R.; Balk, Meghan A.; Benfield, Mark C.; Branch, Trevor A.; Chen, Catherine; Cosgrove, James; Dove, Alistair D.M.; Gaskins, Lindsay C.; Helm, Rebecca R.; Hochberg, Frederick G.; Lee, Frank B.; Marshall, Andrea; McMurray, Steven E.; Schanche, Caroline; Stone, Shane N. & Thaler, Andrew D. (2015). "Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna". PeerJ. 3: e715. doi:10.7717/peerj.715. PMC 4304853. PMID 25649000. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4304853 ↩

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  11. Rosa, Rui; Lopes, Vanessa M.; Guerreiro, Miguel; Bolstad, Kathrin & Xavier, José C. (30 March 2017). "Biology and ecology of the world's largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review" (PDF). Polar Biology. 40 (9): 1871–1883. Bibcode:2017PoBio..40.1871R. doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2104-5. S2CID 15480545. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518000/1/Rosa%20et%20al%202017%20-%20Biology%20of%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20invertebrate%20AAM.pdf ↩

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  16. "Hooks and suckers". Te Papa (blog). 30 April 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2011 – via Blog.tepapa.govt.nz. http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2008/04/30/hooks-and-suckers/ ↩

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  22. Rosa, Rui; Lopes, Vanessa M.; Guerreiro, Miguel; Bolstad, Kathrin & Xavier, José C. (30 March 2017). "Biology and ecology of the world's largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review" (PDF). Polar Biology. 40 (9): 1871–1883. Bibcode:2017PoBio..40.1871R. doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2104-5. S2CID 15480545. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518000/1/Rosa%20et%20al%202017%20-%20Biology%20of%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20invertebrate%20AAM.pdf ↩

  23. Remeslo, Alexander; Yukhov, Valentin; Bolstad, Kathrin & Laptikhovsky, Vladimir (1 May 2019). "Distribution and biology of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni: New data from depredation in toothfish fisheries and sperm whale stomach contents". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 147: 121–127. Bibcode:2019DSRI..147..121R. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2019.04.008. S2CID 146043830. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063718303534 ↩

  24. Xavier, José C.; Raymond, Ben; Jones, Daniel C. & Griffiths, Huw (19 October 2015). "Biogeography of Cephalopods in the Southern Ocean Using Habitat Suitability Prediction Models" (PDF). Ecosystems. 19 (2): 220–247. doi:10.1007/s10021-015-9926-1. S2CID 14435325. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/508659/1/Xavier%20et%20al%20-%20Biogeography%20of%20cephalopods%20in%20the%20Southern%20Ocean.pdf ↩

  25. Rosa, Rui; Lopes, Vanessa M.; Guerreiro, Miguel; Bolstad, Kathrin & Xavier, José C. (30 March 2017). "Biology and ecology of the world's largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review" (PDF). Polar Biology. 40 (9): 1871–1883. Bibcode:2017PoBio..40.1871R. doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2104-5. S2CID 15480545. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518000/1/Rosa%20et%20al%202017%20-%20Biology%20of%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20invertebrate%20AAM.pdf ↩

  26. Remeslo, Alexander; Yukhov, Valentin; Bolstad, Kathrin & Laptikhovsky, Vladimir (May 2019). "Distribution and biology of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni: New data from depredation in toothfish fisheries and sperm whale stomach contents". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 147: 121–127. Bibcode:2019DSRI..147..121R. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2019.04.008. S2CID 146043830. A total of 107 M. hamiltoni stomachs (out of 849 examined) contained prey remains. These comprised remnants of small fish, some of which were tentatively identified as Myctophidae and Bathylagidae. Large fish scales were also observed, but no other remains facilitating exact species identification were found. No invertebrate remains were observed. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier) ↩

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