There are squids bigger than Giant Squids, as it turns out. The Colossal Squid (!), a sample of which was caught by New Zealand fishermen last year, is just such a beastie.
The squid in the photo above weighs 485kg and is more than 4 metres long.
There is a tendency amongst species that dwell below the lowest levels of light penetration in the deep ocean to be much larger than related species living in shallower water. The colossal squid is a fantastic example. Of course, there are lots of implications for the appearance and behaviour of these organisms – their feeding habits etc are quite unique – and the squid seen above is, compared to the beaks of other squids found in the stomachs of sperm whales, appears to be a small example of its kind.
Photo courtesy of ABC Science.
