This Giant Squid, a specimen of the Southern Giant Squid (Family Architeuthidae), is preserved in an airtight tank of ethanol. The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid and can grow to an enormous size. This specimen is a young male of 7 meters in length. The longest recorded being about 13 meters. It had been caught in 2004 by fishermen at a depth of 500 meters off the South Island of New Zealand.
The giant squid has a mantle (torso), eight arms, and two longer tentacles. The arms and tentacles account for much of the squid’s extraordinary length, making it lighter than its chief predator, the sperm whale. The Giant Squid has powerful suckers, each equipped with hardened rings bearing numerous hooks. These assist the squid in the capture of fish but also leave the circular scars on sperm whales, which actively prey on giant squid.
A piece of sperm whale skin with giant squid sucker scars
The Giant Squid is among the world’s largest mollusks and heaviest invertebrates, which can weigh up to half a tonne. Giant Squid eyes are among the largest in the Animal Kingdom and can reach a diameter of about 30cm.
An illustration depicting a giant squid from the original edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
The elusive nature of the giant squid and its strange appearance, have firmly established its place in the human imagination. Representations of the giant squid have been known from early legends of the Kraken through books such as Moby-Dick and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
A Tour of the Queensland Museum & Science Center
- Giant Squid
- Giant Wombat Skull
- Avro Avian, G-EBOV
Giant Squid
- Title: Giant Squid (Architeuthis sanctipauli)
- Dates: 2004
- Find site: 500 meters off the South Island of New Zealand.
- Dimensions: Length – 7 metres
- Museum: Queensland Museum & Science Center
Explore Brisbane Museums
- Queensland Art Gallery
- Queensland Museum & Science Center
- MacArthur Museum Brisbane
- RD Milns Antiquities Museum
- Queensland Maritime Museum
- Commissariat Store, Brisbane
- Queensland Police Museum
A Tour of Museums in Australia
- Museums in Sydney
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Australian Museum
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- Museum of Sydney
- Powerhouse Museum
- Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
- Nicholson Museum
- Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum
- Museum of Fire
- Museums in Melbourne
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Melbourne Museum
- Shrine of Remembrance
- Hellenic Museum, Melbourne
- State Library of Victoria
- National Sports Museum
- Old Treasury Building, Melbourne
- Old Melbourne Gaol
- Chinese Museum, Melbourne
- Jewish Museum of Australia
- Museums in Canberra
- National Museum of Australia
- National Gallery of Australia
- Australian War Memorial
- National Portrait Gallery
- Museums in Brisbane
- Queensland Art Gallery
- Queensland Museum & Science Center
- MacArthur Museum Brisbane
- RD Milns Antiquities Museum
- Queensland Maritime Museum
- Commissariat Store, Brisbane
- Queensland Police Museum
- Museums in Perth
- Art Gallery of Western Australia
- WA Shipwrecks Museum
- Perth Mint
- WA Maritime Museum
- Fremantle Prison
- Museums in Adelaide
- Art Gallery of South Australia
- South Australian Museum
- Migration Museum, Adelaide
- Museums in Hobart
- Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
- Museums in Darwin
- Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
- Darwin Military Museum
- Australian Aviation Heritage Center
~~~
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.”
– Charles Darwin
~~~
Photo Credit: GM 2) By NASA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 3) Alphonse de Neuville [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Popular this Week
Sponsor your Favorite Page SEARCH Search for: Search Follow UsJoin – The JOM Membership Program
Sponsor a Masterpiece with YOUR NAME CHOICE for $5
Share this:
- Tweet
