Giant squid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Giant squid |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Subclass: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: |
Oegopsina
|
| Family: |
Architeuthidae
Pfeffer, 1900
|
| Genus: |
Architeuthis
Steenstrup, 1857b
|
The giant squid is a mysterious creature that lives deep in the ocean. These amazing animals can grow very big. Female giant squids can be up to 13 meters (43 feet) long. Males can reach 10 meters (33 feet). This length includes their body, head, and two super long tentacles.
There is an even bigger squid called the Colossal Squid.
For a long time, no one had ever seen a live giant squid. People only found dead ones. But on September 30, 2004, Japanese scientists took the first pictures of a live giant squid. They were in its natural home deep in the ocean. A year later, some of these 556 photos were shared with the world. Then, on December 4, 2006, the same team successfully filmed a live adult giant squid for the very first time! Scientists are still learning about them. Some people even believe the legendary sea monster, the Kraken, was actually a giant squid.
Contents
Discovering the Giant Squid
For many years, fishermen told incredible stories about giant squids. They said these huge squids would wrap their arms around whales. This would cause a huge fight in the sea. Whalers also reported strange things. Sometimes, when they caught a whale, it had scars as big as dinner plates. Other times, they found giant squid arms inside whale stomachs. These arms could be 30 feet long with suckers four inches wide!
The whalers usually ate the squid parts or used them as bait. They often threw them back into the sea. This meant scientists could not study them. But in 1861, a French ship brought back parts of a giant squid. This allowed scientists to finally examine them.
Later, in the late 18th century, several giant squids washed ashore. This proved that these amazing creatures really existed. After that, many more dead giant squids were found. Scientists became very interested in these mysterious animals. However, few ever saw them alive. Scientists believe giant squids spend most of their lives in the deep, cold ocean.
In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia received a whole giant squid body. It was preserved in a huge block of ice. Fishermen had caught it off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that same year. By 2004, nearly 600 giant squid specimens were known. New ones are still found each year.
What Does a Giant Squid Look Like?
Like all squids, a giant squid has a mantle (its main body). It also has eight arms and two even longer tentacles. These tentacles are the longest known of any cephalopod. The arms and tentacles make up most of the squid's huge length. This means it is much lighter than its main predator, the sperm whale. Giant squids usually weigh hundreds of kilograms, not thousands.
The inside of the arms and tentacles are covered with hundreds of round suction cups. These cups are about 2 to 5 centimeters (0.8 to 2 inches) wide. Each cup sits on a stalk. The edge of these suckers has sharp, jagged rings made of chitin. These sharp rings and the suction help the squid hold onto its prey. You can often see circular scars from these suckers on the heads of sperm whales. These scars show where the whales have fought with giant squids.
Each arm and tentacle has three parts. These are the carpus (like a wrist), manus (like a hand), and dactylus (the tip). The carpus has many cups in messy rows. The manus is wider and has bigger suckers in two middle rows. The dactylus is the very end. All the arms and tentacles are arranged in a circle. This circle surrounds the squid's single, parrot-like beak. This is similar to other cephalopods.
Giant squids have small fins at the back of their body. They use these fins to move around. Like other cephalopods, they move using jet propulsion. They pull water into their body cavity and then push it out through a tube called a siphon. They can move slowly with gentle pulses or quickly by pushing water out fast. Giant squids breathe using two large gills inside their body. They have a closed circulatory system, like humans. Also, like other squids, they can release dark ink to scare away predators.
The giant squid has a very advanced nervous system and a complex brain. Scientists are very interested in studying this. It also has the largest eyes of any living creature. Only the colossal squid might have bigger eyes. Giant squid eyes can be at least 27 centimeters (11 inches) across. Their pupils can be 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) wide. Big eyes help them see light in the deep ocean, where it is very dark. They probably cannot see colors. But they can likely see small differences in light and shadow. This is important in the low-light conditions of the deep ocean.
Giant squids float in seawater using a special trick. They have a solution of ammonium chloride throughout their bodies. This solution is lighter than seawater. This is different from most fish, which use a gas-filled swim bladder to float. This solution makes giant squids taste bad to humans. So, people usually do not eat them.
Like all cephalopods, giant squids use organs called statocysts. These help them sense their position and movement in the water. Scientists can tell a giant squid's age by looking at "growth rings" in its statocyst. This is similar to how you can tell a tree's age by counting its rings. Much of what we know about giant squid age comes from these rings. It also comes from undigested beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales.
How Big Do Giant Squids Get?
The giant squid is the second-largest mollusc. It is also the second-largest invertebrate (an animal without a backbone) alive today. Only the colossal squid is bigger. The colossal squid's body can be almost twice as long. Some extinct cephalopods, like Tusoteuthis and Cameroceras, might have been even larger.
People often exaggerate the size of giant squids. Stories say they can be over 20 meters (66 feet) long. But scientists have not found any animals that big. Experts like Steve O'Shea say these lengths were probably measured by stretching the two long tentacles like elastic bands.
Scientists have studied 130 giant squid specimens. They have also looked at beaks found inside sperm whales. From this, they know that a giant squid's body (mantle) is usually not longer than 2.25 meters (7.4 feet). If you include the head and arms, but not the super long tentacles, they rarely go over 5 meters (16 feet). The total length, measured after the squid has died, is estimated to be 13 meters (43 feet) for females. Males are estimated to be 10 meters (33 feet) long. This length is from the fins to the tip of the two long tentacles.
Female giant squids are usually bigger than males. Females can weigh up to 275 kilograms (606 pounds). Males are smaller, weighing around 150 kilograms (330 pounds).
Giant Squid Life and Habitat
What Do Giant Squids Eat?
Recent studies show that giant squids eat deep-sea fish and other types of squids. They catch their prey using their two long tentacles. They grip the prey with the serrated sucker rings on the ends of the tentacles. Then, they bring the food to their powerful beak. They shred it with a tongue-like organ called a radula, which has small, file-like teeth. After that, the food goes down to their esophagus.
Scientists believe giant squids hunt alone. This is because only single giant squids have been caught in fishing nets. In New Zealand, many giant squids have been found near where people fish for hoki fish. However, hoki fish are not part of the giant squid's diet. This suggests that both giant squids and hoki fish eat the same smaller animals.
Who Eats Giant Squids?
The only known predators of adult giant squids are sperm whales. But pilot whales might also eat them. Younger giant squids are hunted by deep-sea sharks and other fish. Sperm whales are very good at finding giant squids. Because of this, scientists have tried to watch sperm whales to learn more about the squids.
Where Do Giant Squids Live?
Giant squids live all over the world's oceans. They are usually found near the slopes of continents and islands. You can find them in the North Atlantic Ocean, especially near Newfoundland, Norway, the northern British Isles, Spain, and the islands of the Azores and Madeira. They are also found in the South Atlantic around southern Africa. In the North Pacific, they live near Japan. In the southwestern Pacific, they are found around New Zealand and Australia. Giant squids are rarely seen in tropical or polar waters.
Images for kids
-
Architeuthis sanctipauli was described in 1877 based on a specimen found washed ashore in Île Saint-Paul three years earlier.
See also
In Spanish: Calamares gigantes para niños
