By Biajanà González (@saro_b621)
Introduction
Antarctica: a region of vast history, harsh environments, and alluring mysteries. It is the only continent on Earth without ever having indigenous human inhabitants. That said, much of it remains untouched from direct human activity- discounting the ever presence of global warming. However, our sights go to its southern sea, that which surrounds Antarctica. Here, marine life is extreme due to light climate, extreme isolation, great continental shelf depths and water temperature. Among the many animals that live in it, one is known to have achieved legendary status- the colossal squid. With its massive appearance, threatening demeanor, and enveloped mystery, this emperor lives up to its name.
Also known as ‘The Antarctic cranch squid’, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is a heavy weight champion among all squid species, while also having the largest eyes of any animal in our planet. Its existence was confirmed in 2003, but records show that it has been sighted as far back as 1925 from sperm whale stomach dissections. Its measurements include a mantle length of 2.5m, an overall length of 39-46 feet, and a maximum recorded weight of a whooping 1080lbs. Like other species found in nature, the female tends to be larger in size, where the largest recorded length has been 46 feet. With such an impressive mass, the colossal squid is recorded to be the heaviest invertebrate on earth.
Mythology of the Kraken
Fun fact: the mythical sea monster known as the Kraken has been theorized to have been originated from sightings of Colossal and Giant squids, where sailors have often exaggerated their sizes to great measure. Though they certainly are gigantic by normal squid standards, they are not big enough to capsize a naval fleet, so you can rest easy for now.
In-depth analysis of Characteristics
Hunting Arsenal
This Antarctic behemoth is known for having distinguishable and alluring characteristics, that which cannot compare to others of its family. Their tentacles are equipped with suckers and sharp swivelling hooks found at the end of the club (the hands, so to speak), which give off a frightening, Lovecraftian appearance. These characteristics provide them with an arsenal capable enough to hunt down prey with no difficulty. As a rundown, you have 3 distinguishable tools: rotating tentacle hooks, arm hooks, and the suckers. The rotating tentacle hooks can swivel 360 degrees, while the arm hooks cannot. The arm hooks are rather fixed, while also having a strong main claw to help immobilize prey. The suckers are in both the arms and tentacles of the colossal squid. One might think they would leave just a mark, but they are sharply serrated and have been shown to prove lethal to victims. Such markings can be shown in Sperm whales from their notorious battles.
As already mentioned, one of the Colossal squid’s alluring characteristics are its colossal eyes, which makes it known to be having the largest eyes of any animal on Earth! Within the last decade, there have been various papers conducted to try and justify the existence of their large eyes. The most common conscious established by scientists suggest that their enormous eyes are used for locating sperm whales and other potential predators or prey. Which it makes sense, since they mainly reside at great depths, where the retina must be large enough to be able to detect sperm whales from incoming distances. Hence, it is no convenience they have the largest eyes of any species on Earth. It is merely mother nature helping them adjust to their lifestyle.
Demeanor, prey, and predators
Despite its threatening appearance and demeanor, research has shown the colossal squid to be quite dull as opposed to its exterior. Hence, it is not as dangerous as some humans make it out to be, yet that is mainly because they are often located in deep waters. They have been shown to have low and undemanding predatory requirements, as they primarily prey on large fish species, such as Patagonian Toothfish (or Chilean sea bass, for that matter). Due to its lumbering size, it most likely does not expend so much energy as to try and chase its prey, rather it waits for the opportune moment. Based on their predatory requirements and hunting arsenal, colossal squids are thought to be ambush predators that depend on their tentacles’ hooks to catch their prey. As they grow older with age, they move to deeper secluded waters, mainly to reduce the probability to being detected by prey and predators alike.
When it comes to predators, colossal squid have been shown to have few. Only elephant seals have been found to eat colossal squids, but only when they are juvenile and still pre-mature. However, one notorious predator and rival of the colossal squid is none other than the Physeter Macrocephalus, otherwise known as the sperm whale. Several studies conducted by scientists in the last decade showed that a sperm whale’s stomach contents consisted 70% of colossal squid beaks. Taking this into account, the sperm whale tends to be the dominating predator from their battles’ outcome. Regardless, colossal, and squids do not go down without a fight, as their tentacle markings have been shown on sperm whale carcasses. For this reason, scientists monitor sperm whales’ activities in hope of finding colossal squids. They are only caught rarely in deep-sea fisheries as a mere coincidence or their residues inside whale stomachs. To this day, studies are still being conducted to study the behaviors between the colossal squid and sperm whale.
Closing thoughts
All in all, the colossal squid remains an elusive mystery to this day. Due to the harsh environment surrounding the southern Antarctic sea and its rare sightings, there is still much left to be known for these titans. With such few sightings in the past century, very little is still known as to its behavior, diet, conservation status and ecosystem roles, as they normally inhabit the deepest and coldest waters. For such reason, most of bodies examined have been either juvenile bycatch from fisheries or dead carcasses. Despite this, the current and next generation of deep-sea scientists seek to uncover more about the history of these illusive creatures.
Contact Biajanà and tell him how much you loved his article!
Instagram: @saro_b621
Email: biajanisarobei@gmail.com
References
Ravaioli, D. and T. Youngster 2012. "Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed June 28, 2020 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mesonychoteuthis_hamiltoni/
The anatomy of the colossal squid. (2019, November 13). Retrieved June 28, 2020, from
O''Shea, S. (2019, March 09). Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://tonmo.com/articles/giant-squid-and-colossal-squid-fact-sheet.18/
Colossal Squid ~ MarineBio Conservation Society. (2020, May 25). Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://marinebio.org/species/colossal-squid/mesonychoteuthis-hamiltoni/