[News]: Very Large Colossal Squid Caught

[sorseress]

Wahoo!

 

[OB]

I can recall from this site that it used to host an image of a huge, big mantle, big finned crimson squid, just below the surface; tiny black eyes. I think at the time Steve commented on that particular one that it was perhaps a spent female Moroteuthis. I would really like to get my hands on that since ommitted (!) photograph now, I feel a strange sense of recognition...

 

[CapnNemo]

sad that it died, but well done to the crew for managing to get the mantle as well, can't have been easy gaffing [sic] and pulling that weight onboard without the head coming off.

 

[OB]

They were actually smart enough to net the brute and save the mantle. Good men, regardless of their toothfishing habit...

 

[Phil]

Scroll to the bottom of that Japanese site Ob. The image is still there if it's the one I'm thinking of.

 

[OB]

No, those are "merely" the first ever pictures of a live Architeuthis, unless the Kyoto ones where earlier; the one that's gone walkabout was in between the arrow and them, if my memory serves me...

 

[Clem]

OK, any bets on ML? 2,50 m? 2,65 m?

3, 40m ML. Care to wager on mantle circumference?

...Oh man, are we ever nerds.

 

[OB]

3,40?! You're on, it'll cost you a beer or two

 

[Clem]

3,40?! You're on, it'll cost you a beer or two

I'll gladly buy a round, after you've settled the 3, 40m bar tab.

 

[Danno]

This thing has such a large mantle its absurd.

Hey quick question...

Would an adult female of this species probably be bigger?

also...

Think the squid died because of the lack of decompression? Rose to the surface to quickly, or does that not matter?

 

[Clem]

Hey quick question...Would an adult female of this species probably be bigger? also...Think the squid died because of the lack of decompression? Rose to the surface to quickly, or does that not matter?

Hello Danno,

If you haven't read it yet, check out Steve O'Shea's Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. Dr. O'Shea notes that female squid are often larger than the males; there's also a graphic projection of just how sexually dimorphic male and female Mesos might be. The great size of the mature male specimen announced today makes a mature female the next Mesonychoteuthis Grail.

Your second question re: what ailed the squid is a really good one. I can't answer it, but rapid presure change has to be considered; older accounts/photos of Meso catches have indicated more energetic behavior at the surface, but those appear to have been smaller, possibly younger animals. You are sure to get more responses to your questions.

Cheers,
Clem

 

[Tintenfisch]

Usually the thing that kills deep-sea squid brought to the surface is temperature, not pressure. (Since squid have no swim-bladder or other gas-filled spaces in the body, nothing expands much on the way up as far as we know.) In Antarctica, however, temperature shock may be less of a problem, since surface temperatures don't differ as much from the depths as they would in more temperate waters. I'm not sure what Antarctic surface temps are like in the summer though - there could be enough of a difference. (How's that for conclusive and helpful? )

 

[Clem]

...sorry, quick interject: I just checked Youtube and there's a slideshow of the new Meso, with an interesting pic at the beginning...I'll delete this post if it's a repeat.

Edit: See above. The head on this animal looks incredibly strange. Articulation of the arms where they emerge from the crown is almost joint-like, area above what's left of the eye suggestive of a brow, giving it a nearly raptorial look.

 

[Mournblade1]

There's been a lot of squid news of late, hasn't there!

Who knows what is around the corner.

Yeah, really! And this certainly won't hurt potential funding
of further research!!! The first GOLDEN AGE of BIG SQUID
RESEARCH is in full motion! Yow!!!





Vincent

 

[bigGdelta]

Yeah, really! And this certainly won't hurt potential funding
of further research!!! The first GOLDEN AGE of BIG SQUID
RESEARCH is in full motion! Yow!!!





Vincent

I guess the stars are finally right.