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Colossal Squid

Cracking Big Squid!

Kraken?

I should Coco!

Coco? Yes please...
 
If anyone can name an animal that's more like a movie-style monster than that squid I'll give them five pounds.*

*Not really
 
Re: Pretty Rare

The Yitthian said:
They have now searched European records and discovered that albinos are rarely seen in the wild.
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Of course they're rarely seen. They're white in Antarctica. I'm amazed they can be seen at all.

Cujo
 
ethelred said:
how do squid reproduce?
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In large quantities. Are you sure that a barrel full of Collossal Squid eggs is really what you want...?
 
Depends. Are they more like fish roe or bird eggs?
 
Bound to be a delicacy somewhere, I'm sure.

On the topic of reproduction, I only know how Octopus reproduce. I have no idea if Squid do the same, though.

It involves a specialised tentacle which enters the appropriate orifice, and then the tip (containing a packet of sperm) breaks off. (It then grows back so that all the tentacles are even again.)

I'll have to see what I can find on squid reproducion.
 
ethelred said:
how do squid reproduce? and 'carefully' is really not the answer I'm looking for
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IIRC in some species of squid the males produce dart-like spermatophores which actually pierce the females skin, and presumably the spermatozoa then travel to the ovaries (this is as far as my knowledge extends).

Leading on from this, some years ago I read a story in "New Scientist" about a Japanese man who went to his doctor complaining of a very painful sore throat. When the doctor examined him he found dozens of these squid spermatophores embedded in the back of this mans throat. It seems he was particularly fond of raw squid sushi.....
 
You can watch the Discovery channel show on the Colossal Squid find (and witness a Colossal Squid autopsy) here:

http://exn.ca/video/?video=exn20030529-squid.asx

The video really demonstrates how big it is (even for an immature specimen) esp. when compared to the Giant Squid. There is an awful lot of interesting information too - the oesophagus going through the brain, the barbed suckers which can revolve, etc.

Emps
 
Dunno about squid. I read that one spicies of penguin that is prone to abinism (also other colouration abberations) is the Adelie, -quite the cutest penguin I think.

Reading about emperors reproduction...hatching in the middle of the antarctic winter...tough, eh?
 
Homo Aves said:
Reading about emperors reproduction...hatching in the middle of the antarctic winter...tough, eh?
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Or 'at night' as they call it down there...:D
 
Emperor said:
You can watch the Discovery channel show on the Colossal Squid find (and witness a Colossal Squid autopsy) here:

http://exn.ca/video/?video=exn20030529-squid.asx

The video really demonstrates how big it is (even for an immature specimen) esp. when compared to the Giant Squid. There is an awful lot of interesting information too - the oesophagus going through the brain, the barbed suckers which can revolve, etc.

Emps
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Grimmo! It looked like an entirely dodgy video so I turned it off. Yuk.
 
And in English too. Loads of calimari, yum.

NZ fishermen land colossal squid
New Zealand fishermen have caught what is expected to be a world-record-breaking colossal squid.
Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the squid, weighing an estimated 450kg (990lb),took two hours to land in Antarctic waters.

Local news said the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was about 10m (33ft) long, and was the first adult colossal squid landed intact.

One expert said calamari rings made from it would be like tractor tyres.

"I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing," Steve O'Shea from Auckland's University of Technology told local media.

Colossal squid, which are found deep in Antarctic waters, are thought to be about the same length as giant squid ( Architeutis dux ) but are much heavier.

The species was first identified in 1925, but very few specimens have been found.

The first specimen recovered intact, a 150kg (330lb) immature female, was caught on the surface in the Ross Sea near the Antarctic coast in April 2004.

Mr Anderton said the fishermen had been fishing for Patagonian toothfish in deep Antarctic waters when the squid - which was eating a toothfish - was caught.


"The squid was almost dead when it reached the surface, and the careful work of the crew was paramount in getting this specimen aboard in good condition," he said.

The squid was frozen in the ship's hull and brought back to New Zealand for scientific examination.

"The colossal squid has just arrived in New Zealand and it is likely that it is the first intact adult male colossal squid to ever be successfully landed," Mr Anderton said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 385071.stm

Published: 2007/02/22 08:21:59 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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Timble2 said:
Loads of calimari, yum.
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You'll have to wait till it thaws...
Colossal squid's headache for science
By Kim Griggs
Science reporter, New Zealand

It is believed to be the first ever intact adult colossal squid to be landed.

And for now, this beast of the deep - all 495kg (1,090lb) of it - is safely frozen in a one-cubic-metre block of ice at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, in Wellington.

The squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) came into the institution this week after being caught last month by fishermen operating in Antarctic waters.

Eventually, when the curators at Te Papa are ready, this unique specimen will be thawed to allow detailed investigation.

But that could be up to a year away.

The entire storage area for Te Papa's "wet" collection is being renovated, and the squid will not have a permanent home until that work is completed.

Only then can the delicate work of un-freezing this massive mollusc begin.

Dead lump

"It's got to be thawed out slowly. You can't put hot water on it, you've just got to thaw it out naturally," says Te Papa's mollsuca collections manager Bruce Marshall.

To minimise handling of the precious specimen, the colossal squid will probably have its temperature raised, over days, in the tank in which it will finally be "fixed".

"We don't want to move it too much," says Marshall.

"When a thing like that is in the water, it's neutrally buoyant.

"But, of course, when you get it out of the water, you've got a big lump of weight and you could try lifting it and your hands would go right through.

"Already it's got puncture marks from the net."

Once un-frozen, the creature will be fixed, or embalmed, and then a long-term preservative will be used.

"What I mean by a fixing tank is a tank that you lay it out in, in a natural position, and you then make all the adjustments - align all the arms, pack out the body and all of that. Then you have it in a, say, 5% formalin solution.

"It will require the biggest tank of anything we've got."

Sexing squid

Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was first identified in 1925 after two tentacles were recovered from a sperm whale's stomach. Since then, only a handful of colossal squid have ever been sighted.

Two were found in the Ross Sea, and another turned up near South Georgia in 2005.

SIZE COMPARISON

The colossal squid has one of the largest beaks known on any squid, and also has unique swivelling hooks on the clubs at the ends of its tentacles.

This latest colossal squid was caught by a New Zealand fishing vessel in Antarctica's Ross Sea in early February.

Next week will see an official handover from New Zealand's Fisheries Minister, Jim Anderton, to Te Papa's chief executive, Dr Seddon Bennington.

Scientists will be keen to ascertain the creature's gender; and then we may get a little closer to understanding just how big these squid can grow.

Marshall thinks that given its size - an estimated 10m (33ft) in length - it is likely to be a female, as female squid are often larger than males.

"It's extremely unlikely to be a male," says Marshall. "If it is a male, the mind boggles at how big the female would be."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 453997.stm
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BlackRiverFalls said:
it's much redder than i expected...
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Squid are notorious for their colour changing abilities and it is quite often speculated that 'red' is the colour they go when in distress.
 
i hope they have more luck than the last time i tried cooking one, bloody thing blew up in the pan like a zepplin, and it stared at me so bad i got paranoid and ended up slinging it behind the laurel bush...

Microwave plan for colossal squid

An industrial-scale microwave oven may have to be used to defrost a colossal squid caught in the Antarctic last month, scientists say.

They are pondering how to thaw out the half-tonne squid in a way that makes sure none of it rots before other parts have defrosted.

The squid has been kept frozen since it was caught by New Zealand fisherman in deep Antarctic waters in February.

Scientists want to preserve the unique specimen for detailed study.

Squid expert Steve O'Shea said the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni measured 10 metres (33ft) in length.

It weighed 495kgs (1,089lbs), heavier than an initial estimate of 450kgs (990lbs).

Mr O'Shea said it would take days for the colossal squid to defrost at room temperature - meaning its outer flesh could have rotted by the time the centre thawed.

He said a massive microwave was one option.

"There are certain microwave equivalents that are used by industry, for treating timber and the like, that we could probably fit this thing into," Mr O'Shea, of Auckland University of Technology, said.

Museum display

The fishermen were fishing for Patagonian toothfish in deep Antarctic waters when the squid - which was eating a toothfish - was caught in mid-February.

Infographic

It took them two hours to reel in the huge creature.

The squid was frozen in the ship's hull and brought back to New Zealand for examination.

Scientists believe it is by far the largest specimen of the colossal squid ever caught.

At the time of its arrival, Mr O'Shea said calamari rings made from it would be like tractor tyres - although would taste of ammonia.

The squid is currently being kept at New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, in Wellington.

Museum officials hope to embalm the squid and put it on display, while giving scientists access to study it.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 478801.stm
 
Monster warning to protect oceans

The landing of a colossal squid by New Zealand fishermen earlier this year offered a rare glimpse into the mysterious world deep beneath the waves. Scientist Mark Norman uses this week's Green Room to argue that it also shows how marine life is being destroyed before it is understood.

In the era of super science, nothing shows up how little we know of our own planet as finding massive "sea monsters".

The largest single invertebrate animal ever found was recently captured by longline fishermen in Antarctic seas. Known as a colossal squid, it weighed 450kg (990lb), about twice the weight of the largest squid previously captured.

This event highlights two points; firstly, that our knowledge of the most common habitat on our planet - the deep sea - is still in its infancy, and secondly that such scientific discoveries indicate the scale and reach of global fisheries exploitation.

This squid is a very impressive animal. It is has eyes larger than a blue whale's, a sharp slicing beak as big as a rockmelon and a tongue covered in sharp teeth.

Its eight arms and two longer feeding tentacles are armed with toothed suckers and sharp hooks.

It swims with muscular fins and a big funnel for jet propulsion, and the undersides of its eyes have rows of lights like truck running lights.

It is only the fourth non-juvenile of this squid species ever examined by scientists, yet colossal squid are considered the most abundant Antarctic squid by weight.

Their beaks have frequently been found in toothed whale stomachs and juveniles are regularly captured in trawls but nothing is known about the creatures' behaviour in the wild.

Exploitation of the seas

Unfortunately, I cannot see this as a highpoint of scientific discovery drawn from the distant reaches of our wild oceans.

Accidentally caught on a commercial fishing line, it is instead a symptom of the massive, and largely unnoticed, overexploitation of our deep seas.


Part of me marvelled at the pictures in the newspapers of this wonderful sea monster, but a larger part of me saw it as yet another casualty of our short-sighted wanton plundering of the deep ocean

This squid was captured on deep-sea longlines, which are baited and barbed fishing lures attached to kilometres of monofilament line, set as deep as 2km down to catch Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish.

Often marketed as Chilean sea bass or mero, commercial quantities of this fish were only discovered in the early 1980's. Since then, huge harvests throughout the Southern Ocean have lead to a massive collapse of stocks.

For more than a decade, conservation groups have been trying to get protection for such deep-sea fishes. Illegal harvests account for more than half of these catches.

One illegal ship seized off Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean last year had more than $2m dollars (£1m) worth of toothfish in its freezers.

Black-browed albatross (mage: Grahame Madge/Save the albatross)
An estimated 100,000 albatrosses drown each year on longlines(Grahame Madge/Save the albatross)

Throughout the world, longlining for fish has come at a high cost. Not only the fish themselves but also the countless albatross, other seabirds and marine mammals, attracted to and drowned on these baited lines.

Recent initiatives in some regions are reducing these casualties, but only for the legal fisheries.

Much of our knowledge of the world's next largest invertebrate, the giant squid, comes from similarly destructive fisheries.

Through the late 1980s and 1990s, the frenzy to trawl lucrative stocks of orange roughy (marketed as deep-sea perch) off the tops of seamounts also caught giant squid.

Fisheries scientists soon realised however that such hauls were to be short-lived. Orange roughy were found to live for 150 years and take several decades to reach reproductive age.

Because trawlers targeted large breeding aggregations, adult orange roughy yet to breed were removed from the system. As a result, stocks around the world collapsed.

At the peak of this frenzy, giant squid specimens incidentally caught in these trawls came in thick and fast from the fishery hotspots: South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

In New Zealand alone, more than 30 giant squid were caught during the 80s and 90s - more than the world total for the previous 150 years. Both the fisheries and the flow of giant squid specimens subsequently dived.

This strip-mining of the deep ocean has gone largely unnoticed, aided by consumers who really don't want to know that their Chilean sea bass, sea perch or trevalla have come courtesy of the clearance of deep-sea coral forests or drowned albatrosses.

Shoppers may also rather not know that their tasty dish may have been swimming around before the American Civil War.

So when the capture of the colossal squid came to light, part of me marvelled at the pictures in the newspapers of this wonderful sea monster, but a larger part of me saw it as yet another casualty of our short-sighted wanton plundering of the deep ocean.

Dr Mark Norman is curator of molluscs at Museum Victoria, Australia
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6549161.stm
 
Biggest squid ever caught may be a minnow: scientists
Tue Apr 29, 4:02 AM ET

"WELLINGTON (AFP) - The biggest squid ever caught, at up to 10 metres long and boasting a fearsome beak and razor-sharp hooks, may be small compared to others still lurking in the depths, scientists said Tuesday.

The colossal squid has begun a two-day thaw at The Museum of New Zealand in Wellington before it is examined in more detail Wednesday by an international team of scientists.

It weighs 495 kilograms (1,090 pounds), has eyes the size of dinner plates and is estimated at up to 10 metres (33 feet) long.

But that may be relatively small, scientists say after initial examination, suggesting other colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) under the chilly Antarctic waters might grow much larger.

On a museum blog following the progress of the thaw, Chris Paulin -- who is projects manager at the museum, known as Te Papa Tongarewa, said Tuesday that the beak of the colossal squid has been exposed as the flesh defrosts.

The size of the lower beak -- used to chop prey into bite sized pieces -- is around 43 to 45 millimetres.

Colossal squid lower beaks previously found in the stomachs of sperm whales have been as long as 49 millimetres.

Extrapolating the relationship between the length of the beak and body size from another smaller specimen being examined suggests the species could grow much bigger, Paulin said.

"Can we assume that this species reaches three quarters of a tonne in weight?" he asked.

One of the scientists leading the examination, Auckland University of Technology squid expert Steve O'Shea, said it was difficult to say how much bigger the monster squid could grow.

"What we know from that one measurement is that the beak of this animal from the stomachs of sperm whales are considerably larger," O'Shea told Radio New Zealand.

"We make the leap to say the colossal squid grows considerably larger than the 495 kilogram one we are currently defrosting."

O'Shea has previously described the colossal squid, which has razor-sharp swivelling hooks at the end of its tentacles, as "a nasty aggressive sort of squid... a gelatinous blob with seriously evil arms on it."

Full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealandanimalssquid

Video of the defrosting:
http://www.r2.co.nz/20080427/camera-3.asx
 
I couldn't think of a better thread for this, I knew you squid lovers would appreciate it:

My Little Cthulhu
my_little_cthulhu_by_spippo.jpg
 
I emailed the artist, initially she quoted me 200 euros, then after the images appeared on cuteoverload.com, jacked the price up to 300 euros :(
 
QuaziWashboard said:
BlackRiverFalls said:
it's much redder than i expected...
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Squid are notorious for their colour changing abilities and it is quite often speculated that 'red' is the colour they go when in distress.
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Thats one of the reasons they change colour another reason is they get angry and are ready to fight.

They are amazing to watch and see the only thing is you dont really get to see that much of them as they are only ever seen at night when they surface to either mate or feed.
 
Is this crypto or normal zoology? I am not sure...

MAN EATING GIANT SQUID DEVOURING FISH STOCKS



DEADLY sea monsters have woken from the deep to cause carnage among some of the world’s richest fishing grounds.

Millions of killer giant squid are not only devouring vast amounts of fish they have even started attacking humans.

Two Mexican fishermen were recently dragged from their boats and chewed so badly that their bodies could not be identified even by their own families.

No wonder the giant squid are called “diablos rojos” – red devils.

Monster squid are the stuff of legend. But for fishermen and marine biologists along 10,000 miles of coast from Chile to Alaska, the myth has become reality.

And their story is told this week in a Channel Five documentary.

Since 2002, Humboldt giant squid, named after the 18th century German explorer, have been spreading their tentacles to deplete fishing stocks by moving from their traditional tropical hunting grounds off Mexico and laying claim to a vast sweep of the Pacific.

Hunting in 1,000-strong packs the giant squid can out-swim and out-think fish. Scientists believe they coordinate attacks by using pigment cells to communicate.

A single female is believed to be able to lay 30 million eggs, each one capable of becoming a giant killing machine.

Marine biologists wear chain-mail to protect themselves from creatures that can measure 8ft, weigh 100lb and carry an armoury of more than 40,000 fearsome teeth along two “attack” tentacles.

The creatures have another eight “legs” for grasping and swimming and can reach speeds of more than 15mph.

Former US special forces diver Scott Cassell has put his life on the line to study the squid. He too has been attacked.

He said: “Within five minutes my right shoulder had been pulled out of its socket. I had 30 big marks on my head and throat and one squid hit me so hard I saw stars. They then grabbed on to me and pulled me down so fast that I could not equalise and I ruptured my eardrum.

“They are the most opportunistic predators on the planet. They eat everything in their path. One Humboldt squid in the course of two years can eat 27,000lb of fish. What is going to be the impact on the environment?”

Experts believe they may be taking advantage of warmer waters due to climate change. The threat to fisheries and marine ecosystems is explained in the documentary.

Nature Shock: Killer Squid is on ­Channel Five on Tuesday at 8pm.
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http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/196 ... ish-stocks
 
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