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Welcome to GiantSquid.info. We hope you enjoy learning about the mysterious Giant Squid. We provide you with facts, video, pictures, information about its size, eyes, beak, what it eats, and more.
The Giant Squid, also known as Architeuthis, is a mollusk and in the cephalopod class. They're one of the world's largest invertebrates, second only to the Colossal Squid.
Giant Squid live deep in the oceans in depths from 650 to 2,600 ft, hence why they're rarely seen alive.
The first evidence that Giant Squid existed came in 1873 when a minister and a young boy in a small boat near Bell Island, Newfoundland were attacked. Five years later, a 17 m (55 ft) Giant Squid washed ashore in Glover's Harbour, Newfoundland.
Giant Squid have a torpedo shaped body with two fins, a mantle (body), a head, four pairs of arms and a pair of tentacles. The arms and tentacles surround the mouth.
The arms, which are shorter than the tentacles, have hundreds of suction cups and have around its circumference a ring of sharp teeth. The suction cups vary from 2 to 5 cm in diameter. The tentacles are thinner as well as longer than the arms and are used to catch prey and bring it to the mouth.
Just past the mouth are the eyes, which are huge, being 10 inches in diameter (18 inches across).
The mantle is about 2 m (7 ft) in length, larger for females, smaller for males.
Giant Squid are around 5 m (16 ft) in length without tentacles. The largest Giant Squid ever found was 18 m (59 ft) long and weighed nearly a ton (900 kg).
The Giant Squid can move at great speeds through the water as it takes in water into its mantle cavity and then thrusts it out with great force. Two small fins on the top of the mantle helps it maneuver.
Not much is known how Giant Squid reproduce, however the male is equipped with a tube of over 3 ft long, which extends from inside the mantle and is thought to inject spermatophores into a female's arms.
Giant Squid lays their eggs and leave them unattended.
Despite being of a similar length, Sperm Whales hunt Giant Squid and have circular scars on their heads from the suckers of attacked Giant Squid. Another target of Giant Squid is the Sleeper Shark.
The Giant Squid sprays black ink as a form of defense to confuse predators and thus giving them time to make a getaway.
With the Giant Squid being difficult for scientists to study, there's still many secrets yet to be revealed.