Colossal Squid Landed Intact In Antarctica

zakkie writes "New Zealand fisherman have caught a massive 450-kg colossal squid in Antarctic waters. This is by far the biggest yet found, measuring over 10 meters in length and weighing 450 kg. It has been taken back to New Zealand for study." The NZ government's announcement page features a downloadable backgrounder on the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) and a 1.1-MB popup portrait of the animal in the fishing boat's hold.

Comments

Image mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

In case of Slashdotting, I've mirrored the image. Mirror image will be removed this weekend...

Re:Image mirror

[Anne_Nonymous]

Eewwww! That is hideous and disgusting!

The squid is rather repulsive too.

yummy

[the unbeliever]

oh gods, the calamari that could come from that beast...

Re:yummy

[jamestheprogrammer]

Sorry to disappoint you, but if this is anything like the giant squid (and it probably is), it has ammonia in it to help resist deep-water pressure. That would make it taste terrible (and probably toxic, too). Besides, who would come to a restaurant that smelled like they put window cleaner in their hot-and-sour soup? I know you're joking, but I thought I'd point this out...

Re:yummy

[93,000]

According to Yahoo news, calamari rings from this thing would be as large as tractor tires. (as a born and raised ND hick, I can say that even though tractor tires vary greatly in size, none of them are small enough to eat in one sitting)

Re:yummy

[thebdj]

To further point out: Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) != Giant Squid (Genus = Architeuthis). The Giant squid is one of multiple squid belonging to the Genus Architeuthis. The Colossal Squid is the only member of the Genus Mesonychoteuthis, well at least the only "known" and/or "living" one.

Though, your comment might still apply since they are also deep sea dwellers, they too may contain ammonia or some other substance to help them survive the depths.

Re:yummy

[Chris Burke]

Heh, hilarious.

"One expert said calamari rings made from it would be like tractor tyres."

I had to wonder, was this person an expert in giant sea creatures, seafood, or tires?

Re:yummy

[terrymr]

Was he referring to size or taste ?

Re:yummy

[Bearhouse]

From http://giantsquid.msstate.edu/Background/squidtxt. html OK, it's for Giant, but no reason to suppose there're not similar.. "Giant squids do not have any gas spaces in their bodies, which means they do not have soft bladders filled with gas to keep them from sinking as fish have. In fact, no squids do, and neither do really deep sea fishes. Air is so compressible in high pressure habitats that the bladder would be squeezed until it imploded and would be useless. How then is the giant squid able to survive in very deep waters without sinking or being crushed? The answer is ammonium ions. (Ammonia in water splits into ammonium (NH4±) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions.) Unlike air, liquids cannot be crushed or compacted or compacted. Ammonium also solves the sinking problem, since, like oil, it is lighter than seawater. A giant squid concentrates ammonium in its body and is either slightly buoyant (floats) or neutrally buoyant (does not float but does not sink). Ammonia is a natural waste product, like urine. Instead of eliminating or urinating waste out as humans do, giant squids store some of the waste in their bodies. This is why so many giant squids float to the surface and wash ashore when they die. That is also why giant squids are not very tasty to eat!"

Re:yummy

[joeljkp]

What the hell? I go to Mississippi State, and I'm wondering why we have an entire subdomain dedicated to giant squid.

Re:Yum?

[Skagit]

I'll need three hundred gallons of marinara.

Re:Yum?

[jimstapleton]

Ammonia has a boiling point of 34C or 36C doesn't it?

Cook it enough and the ammonia should go by-by (especially if you cut it into small enough pieces)

eyes and pigment

[ObiWanStevobi]

Why do these things, or any creature that spend their lives at such depths have eyes and coloration? Granted, it doesn't appear that many of these creatures has evolved in a long time, but many cave dwelling creatures seem to loose their eyes and pigmentation relatively fast.

Re:eyes and pigment

[rchatterjee]

The eyes could have use to see prey who have bioillumination at depth and to spot prey silhouetted against light from the surface at shallower depths.

Re:eyes and pigment

[Scarblac]

Last week there was a video in the news, it was discovered that giant squid uses flashes of light. That probably gives them a huge advantage, in an area where few of their prey will be used to light, they can see. See e.g. http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=9855&fo rmato=HTML.

Re:eyes and pigment

[fitten]

If you notice, it is red. This is actually useful at depth as light of those wavelengths are filtered by the water so that even at relatively shallow depths, reds appear as grays. At 'deep' depths, no red wavelengths of light are found (from the surface/sun) so animals that are red at that depth are 'colorless'.

Re:eyes and pigment

[flyingsquid]

Also, giant squid (I'm not sure which, Architeuthis or Mesonychoteuthis, would have bigger eyes) have the largest eyes of any animal on earth. The sheer light collecting power of having such a large retina suggests they're designed to see in very low-light conditions (like owls and whipporwhills), although I don't know if anybody knows how they use them.

Re:eyes and pigment

[Cheeko]

Its also possible that the eyes are seeing at wavelengths outside of the visible range. Bees for instance see in ultraviolet, and other animals see in infrared. Its possible that the eyes could pick up heat signatures or something that does exist at that depth.

Also they could migrate to higher depths. One belief is that these things hunt at similar depths to whales, so from very deep, to a more shallow depth as well.

The pigmentation could also be just a consequential byproduct of some other adaptation. For instance chemicals in the skin that serve some purpose might just happen to also give it a color. It could also be an effect of being exposed to air on the surface, or from being dead. You'll notice how things like shrimp and lobsters will appear different colors alive and dead, cooked and uncooked, etc.

Re:eyes and pigment

[MrSquishy]

...suggests they're designed to see in very low-light conditions (like owls and whipporwhills) How in the heck does a giant squid get into an owl?

Wow

[rsilvergun]

that's the second biggest squid I've ever seen.

Re:Another squid recently.

[$RANDOMLUSER]

There can be only one answer: GODZILLA HAS AWAKENED!!!

Re:Am I the only one who pictured flying squid?

[Cheapy]

The Flying...Squid...Monster? Poor Japanese school girls. Atleast they could stay away from tentacles if they avoided water...

obSealab

[Rob T Firefly]

Ah yes, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. With a razor sharp beak, that can tear steel as easily as I tear a croissant...

Ryleh!

[dodobh]

Cthulhu comes!

Re:Futurama!

[swid27]

Update to this story:

The colossal squid was caught while consuming a colossal-mouth bass, not a Patagonian toothfish as originally reported.

Re:Another squid recently.

[oni]

wonder why so many of them are getting caught up.

my guess is that someone has invented a way of catching them.

Re:I for one...

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

>eight tentacled

Actually, squids have ten tentacles, or eight arms and two tentacles, depending on your choice of terminology. Either way, accuracy is better than pissing off anything that big.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Re:Another squid recently.

[matthewlc1]

I would think the reason for the recent appearance of these deep ocean species, are a result of the fact that in the last few years the fishing fleets have all but destroyed there regular shallow target species. As such they have had to abandon shallow water fishing and are now fishing for what is left in the ocean. That seems to be deep water species. If you go to the fish market today. notice how many new and weired fish are now on sale. 10 years ago none of those fish would have been caught or sold. there just is not much left in the shallow oceans for big fleets to harvest. And governments don't want to institute quota's for fear of effecting the fishing industry, and the employment of many thousands of people. Of course in the long run the destruction of the fish stocks will in any way result in the demise of a fishing industry. The difference being it won't be the current politicians problem now will it?

I wonder...

[lpangelrob]

I wonder if the giant squid thought that it and the ground could be friends.

Alas.

Re:Another squid recently.

[Red Flayer]

These big guys have been popping up recently it seems, wonder why so many of them are getting caught up.

If there has been a statistically significant increase, it's probably due to one or more of four things:

1. Fishermen are more thoroughly sieving the deeps, due to declining fish stocks

2. The press that such catches get means that boat captains who previously wouldn't bother reporting these catches now do so, instead of cutting them up for bait or whatever they'd previously do.

3. Changes in oceanic conditions resulting in different behavior by the behemoths (for example, changes in salinity, temperature, or prey location).

4. These colossal squid are simply the advance guard of the armies of He Who Lies Dead But Dreaming (Cthulhu), on the march from R'lyeh to lay the smackdown on us humans.

While I suspect that if there is a noticeable increase in giant squid catches, it's most likely due to options 1 and 2. But something deep inside me tells me that option 4 is the real truth.

Solution

[CdBee]

Calamari Damasy

Re:I for one...

[StressGuy]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Sure...that's easy for you to say.....