Athena
April 29th, 2008, 12:22 PM
Biggest squid ever caught may be a minnow: scientists by David Brooks
Tue Apr 29, 4:02 AM ET
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080429/capt.cps.nan68.290408100049.photo00.photo.default-512x340.jpg
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.
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.
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.
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."
If the new specimen was cut into squid rings, they would be size of tractor tyres, although they would taste like ammonia.
The progress of the thawing is being shown live by webcams on the museum's website www.tepapa.govt.nz.
Full article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealandanimalssquid;_ylt=Apkw6i.aLCNzF_tZWlqE7eMD W7oF)
___________
When I was a little kid, my dad would freak me out with stories of giant squid, with "eyes like dinner plates". He'd tell me that we knew they existed because, although we hadn't caught one, we'd find sperm whales with monsterous scars on it from the hooks of a giant squid, incurred when the two giant creatures would wrassle. Can you imagine anything going heads with a sperm whale?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Sperm_whale_size.svg/673px-Sperm_whale_size.svg.png
To think that this one, at over 1,000lbs and 33ft long, might be small in comparison to others is fucking awesome.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Architeuthis_princeps_image_modified.PNG
Tue Apr 29, 4:02 AM ET
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080429/capt.cps.nan68.290408100049.photo00.photo.default-512x340.jpg
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.
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.
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.
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."
If the new specimen was cut into squid rings, they would be size of tractor tyres, although they would taste like ammonia.
The progress of the thawing is being shown live by webcams on the museum's website www.tepapa.govt.nz.
Full article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealandanimalssquid;_ylt=Apkw6i.aLCNzF_tZWlqE7eMD W7oF)
___________
When I was a little kid, my dad would freak me out with stories of giant squid, with "eyes like dinner plates". He'd tell me that we knew they existed because, although we hadn't caught one, we'd find sperm whales with monsterous scars on it from the hooks of a giant squid, incurred when the two giant creatures would wrassle. Can you imagine anything going heads with a sperm whale?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Sperm_whale_size.svg/673px-Sperm_whale_size.svg.png
To think that this one, at over 1,000lbs and 33ft long, might be small in comparison to others is fucking awesome.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Architeuthis_princeps_image_modified.PNG