[Featured]: Architeuthis (Giant Squid) Sightings

agree, the pics (and vids!) are great - but yeah, 9 meters is a bit of a "stretch" (literal usage here!) ... it does, however, *appear* to be an unusually large mantle... on the larger side, yes?
 
Extraordinary numbers of giant squid, Architeuthis dux, encountered in Japanese coastal waters of the Sea of Japan from January 2014 to March 2015
Tsunemi Kubodera, Toshifumi Wada, Masahito Higuchi, Akiko Yatabe 2016 (subscription Springer)
Abstract
In total, 57 giant squid, Architeuthis dux, were found between January 2014 and March 2015 in Japanese coastal waters in the Sea of Japan. Occurrences were especially high around Sado Island and in Toyama Bay. All of the squid occurred individually, and 28 were found alive. The occurrences were categorized into three groups based on distance from the shore and the depth at which they were found: (1) washed ashore on a beach or found floating at the surface close to a beach (19 individuals); (2) caught in a fixed net set in coastal waters between 50 and 150 m depths (28 individuals); and (3) caught by bottom trawl or bottom gillnet fisheries several kilometers offshore between 200 and 300 m depths (ten individuals). Two size groups were recognized, one ranging between 80 and 160 cm dorsal mantle length (DML) with a mode at 110 cm and another larger than 160 cm DML. The sex ratio in the smaller group was nearly equal and the larger group was comprised of all females. The Sea of Japan was considered to be a large natural trap for giant squid migrating through southwestern Tsushima Strait.
 
Hi gang!

Eddie Howard, Marine Biologist at the Island Bay Marine Education Centre, who came across the giant squid carcass washed up on a remote Wellington beach over the weekend, gave me permission to share his FB album with the photos he took--you can view them here. Luckily for us he has a science/education background and did a great job documenting the find including taking some measurements! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

:archi:
 
Hi Tony,

Looking at the photos of the buccal region, with the beak missing, I think they are probably salivary glands that are hanging out now that the buccal bulb has been removed.

Eddie did manage to get a piece of tissue from the specimen so hopefully we can get a little more information about it--it will be A. dux but it would be interesting to look at the genetics of the specimens we've seen around NZ a little more closely!
 

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