Giant Squid
(Architeuthis dux)
The Giant Squid is a very large squid that can be found in oceans all around the world. The giant squid is the second-largest mollusk growing up to 34 ft(13 m) and weighs up to 600 lbs (275 kg). The Giant Squid has silver and gold skin, but is also able to change colors to blend in with its environment. The Giant Squid is very similar in shape to other smaller squid species with a head, mantle, eight arms, and two long tentacles. The tentacles are lined with 2-inch wide toothed suckers that guide their captured prey of smaller squid and fish to a sharp beak.
The Giant Squid's brain is uniquely shaped like a donut. The Giant Squid’s esophagus runs straight through the "donut hole" in the middle of the brain to get to the stomach. To help track its predators and prey with little light available in the deep ocean, the Giant Squid has evolved the largest eyes of any animal in the world. Their eyes can be as large as 11 in (27 cm), about the size of a large dinner plate. They are able to detect the shape of its main predator, the Sperm Whales from 400 ft (120 m) away.
The Giant Squid has captured the human imagination for hundreds of years inspiring early legends of the kraken through novels such as Moby-Dick and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. For a long time, humans have only spotted them floating dead on the water or washed up on beaches and couldn't figure out exactly what they were. Even today almost everything scientists know about the Giant Squid comes from dead specimens. The Giant Squid has only been caught on film twice in their natural environment. For these reasons there is still much to learn about the Giant Squid, including the Giant Squid's population status.
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