Old picture from norway

[Asimov]

Hi
been reading this board for some time, as iam quite facinated with squids. havnt bothered to signup before as i havnt had anything to contribute really but i came acros this old picture in a norwegian newspaper:

a 9.5m Architeuthis dux washed ashore in trondheim 1954!
this made me wonder if there are any information on giant squids in the north atlantic sea. is this a one time coincident or are they know to live in this area to.

 

[Jean]

Hi Asimov and

That is quite a famous pic (& squid!!!) I first came across that in my first year at varsity in my invertebrate zoology text (for those of the same vintage as me it was Barnes: Invertebrate Zoology!)

Thanks for the reminder

J

 

[Phil]

Hi Asimov. to TONMO.

Thanks for the picture. Giant squid are known from the North Sea as well as the North Atlantic. According to Steve (so I'd better get this right...) they are genetically identical to those found in the Southern Pacific and NZ waters. This is quite interesting if one considers the implications for population distribution and movement.

In fact Architeuthis are even known from the UK; specimens have been washed up on Scottish shores and in the Shetlands every few years since they were first recorded in the 1920s. Norway and Denmark have also had a few strandings. Two Architeuthis were washed up in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1984 and another in 1998; all these incidents seem to show that there must be a sizeable population in the North Sea.

I'm not sure where you live, but if you live in the UK, there is an aquarium in Plymouth with one on display. This is the only complete specimen on public view here apart from a mangled head in the London Natural History Museums' Darwin Centre. I'll post a link when I can find one if you are interested.

Phil

 

[Phil]

Asimov,

You may find this link of interest. It shows all recorded strandings of Architeuthis around the UK and provides a map.

www.abdn.ac.uk/octopod/archi/archbrit.htm+architeuthis+scotland&hl=en]UK Architeuthis strandings[/url]

Cheers,

Phil

 

[Asimov]

actually iam from norway, and i heard some museum in trondheim got a big arch on display(hanging from the roof from what i heard) not sure about this though and havnt found ny picture of it, could be the same as the one on the picture.

its wierd that so little is known about the arch around the north atlantic(except the fact that its there . one should think they would wash up on shore more often, like they seem to in New zealand and those parts of the pacific. or get cought, with all the fishing that is done here(guess it lives to deep maybe)

2 other pictures i found searching some norwegian sites, i see steve on one of them so maybe they have been up here before. great pics anyways 8)