Giant Squid
The giant squid (Architeuthis dux) is a deep-sea cephalopod that can reach 12 meters or more in length and has the largest eyes in the animal kingdom apart from the colossal squid, up to about 27 centimeters across.
The giant squid (Architeuthis dux) is a deep-sea cephalopod that can reach 12 meters or more in length and has the largest eyes in the animal kingdom apart from the colossal squid, up to about 27 centimeters across. It remained a legend until it was filmed alive in the 2000s and 2010s.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Giant Squid in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Lophotrochozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Seeing Sperm Whales Coming: Why Such Big Eyes?
Research suggests that the huge eyes are tuned to detect the faint glow produced by the water disturbed by approaching sperm whales, their chief predators, from far off, giving time to flee. Sperm whales carry circular scars from the squids' suckers.
Seen at Last
The first photographs of a live giant squid in the wild were taken in 2004, and in 2012 researchers filmed one in its natural habitat at depths of about 600 to 900 meters off Japan. Much of what is known came from carcasses washed ashore or caught in nets.
Buoyancy by Ammonium
The tissues contain ammonium chloride, which is lighter than seawater, and so the squid can float neutrally without a gas-filled organ. Genetic studies indicate that all giant squid worldwide belong to a single species.
Giant Squid at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Architeuthis dux |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Cephalopoda |
| Order | Oegopsida |
| Family | Architeuthidae |
| Field Guide group | Lophotrochozoa: Mollusca (Mollusks) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Enormous body reaching 13 meters length, two feeding tentacles with toothed sucker rings, dinner-plate camera eyes up to 30 cm wide. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014 |
| Maximum length | About 12 meters or more |
| Eye diameter | Up to about 27 centimeters |
See Also
- Colossal Squid — its heavier relative
- Sperm Whale — its main predator