Tentarcticles (Mesonychoteuthis / Colossal Squid)

Tintenfisch

Architeuthis
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Just a heads up, within the next few weeks there will be some very interesting ceph news from the South, which we are anticipating will have international press coverage. More to follow soon...

:wink: Mysterious T
 
.... 5 days to go ...... and counting

A sneak preview attached

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:notworth: :notworth: Ahhhhhhhhh Steve the cruelty you put us through lol!!!! I simply cannot wait!!!!! I know it will be amazing; as always. Thank you for sharing this incredible bit of science with all of us here at Tonmo. Thank you to all of you for doing such a GREAT job!!!!!!! Until later...I will be patiently waiting lol!!!!
 
The lengths and weights that Architeuthis is reputed to attain are quite exagerated. The same could apply for Mesonychoteuthis, but as adult specimens are extremely rare in collections, and very little information is available for it, we are not in any position to challenge presently reported estimates.

I attach two files. The first depicts adult Architeuthis dux maximum lengths and weights, based on examination of over 100 specimens in the past 8 years. I do not believe, as stated many times throughout this site, that they attain lengths of 60 feet and weights of one ton.

For Mesonychoteuthis maximum estimates of length are: mantle length: 2-4m; total length to 30 feet.

Based on a combination of beak dimension, and both factory ship and photographic observations, Clarke (1986: 202) suggests Mesonychoteuthis attains a mantle length in excess of 2 m, possibly exceeding 4 m. Nesis (1987) reports mantle lengths of 2.0-2.25 m, but it is uncertain whether these measures are based on actual specimens, or estimates of size based on beak remains from stomach contents of sperm whales.

The lower beak standard measurement of rostrum length (LRL) 22.0 mm reported for 1.05 m specimen (Rodhouse & Clarke 1985) is considerably shorter than the greatest LRL described for this species, 48.0 mm (a measure taken from the largest beak known from the stomach of sperm whales). Therefore Mesonychoteuthis obviously attains sizes well in excess of 1.05 m ML.

We will soon find out whether these estimates are reliable. If Mesonychoteuthis does attain a mantle length of 4 m, or anywhere approaching it, then it truly will dwarf Architeuthis in terms of length, bulk and certainly 'meaness'; if it attains little more than 2.25 m ML then, although large and ferocious, it will not approach the standard length dimension of Architeuthis (if size and length can be scaled as they have in the accompanying figure).

Watch this space

References
Clarke, M.R. (ed.). 1986: A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1–273.

Nesis, K.N. 1987: Cephalopods of the world (English translation). Tropical Fish Hobbiest (T.F.H.) publications, Neptune City: 1–352.

Rodhouse, P.G.; Clarke, M.R. 1985. Growth and distribution of young Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): an Antarctic squid. Vie Milieu 35(3/4): 223–230.

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a 7'4" mantle still isant anything to sneeze at even if it turns out not to be the biggest cat at the dance... i do have to confess, a 13' mantle is QUITE difficult to imagine...... any possibilities that you kiwis have some different CEPHappenings than other regions?
 
Are these the scars of Mesonychoteuthis, or the result of battles with another male sperm whale? There are a few Architeuthis tentacle-club scars there too, if you hunt around a bit.

This animal, the male of 39 feet that stranded in New Zealand late last year, had the remains of 7 Mesonychoteuthis in its stomach. I would not want to tangle with a full-grown Mesonycho!

The photos have been given to us by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, c/o Debbie Freeman. Stunning stuff!

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The lfs has agreed to import me a Mesonychoteuthis and have it here by next weekend. Do you think a 55 gallon aquarium will be big enough? I have 2 protein skimmers on it just in case! If not, do you think a pair of Architeuthis will do well in the 55 gallon...I have plenty of hermit crabs to feed them. :lol:

just messin', but very cool information Steve...thanks
 
We went to great lengths to get the facts straight on this one, preparing a 10+ page fact sheet on the species concerned. There's not one fact in that release. I was asked if they ate penguins, laughed and gave an emphatic NO.

Hopefully the truth will come out over the next few days (believe nothing unless it is the spoken word, and even then question it).

Number of adult specimens reported: 6 (all but one recovered from sperm whale stomachs). Juveniles are not uncommon from surface waters to ~ 1000 m depth.

This species was first described on the basis of two arm (brachial) crowns recovered from sperm whale stomach contents (Robson 1925). Subsequently few specimens have been collected. A sub-mature female of mantle length (ML) 1.25 m is described by Voss (1980), and reference made to two other partial specimens (brachial crowns) in the collections of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution. A further specimen, ML 1.05 m, was trawled in an opening-closing net (RMT8) at a depth of 2000-2200 m (Rodhouse & Clarke 1985). None, to our knowledge, have been reported subsequently.

There is no comprehensive description of the mature adult, male or female, known.

Estimated mantle length: 2-4m; total length to 30 feet.
Based on a combination of beak dimension, and both factory ship and photographic observations, Clarke (1986: 202) suggests Mesonychoteuthis attains a mantle length in excess of 2 m, possibly exceeding 4 m. Nesis (1987) reports mantle lengths of 2.0-2.25 m, but it is uncertain whether these measures are based on actual specimens, or estimates of size based on beak remains from stomach contents of sperm whales. This is a mantle length equivalent to that of the largest of 105 Architeuthis specimens examined by the authors.

The lower beak standard measurement of rostrum length (LRL) 22.0 mm reported for 1.05 m specimen (Rodhouse & Clarke 1985) is considerably shorter than the greatest LRL described for this species, 48.0 mm (a measure taken from the largest beak known from the stomach of sperm whales). Therefore Mesonychoteuthis obviously attains a size considerably exceeding 1.05 m ML.

Refs:

Clarke, M.R. (ed.). 1986: A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1–273.

Nesis, K.N. 1987. Cephalopods of the world (English translation). Tropical Fish Hobbiest (T.F.H.) publications, Neptune City. 1–352.

Robson, G.C. 1925. On Mesonychoteuthis, a new genus of oegopsid, Cephalopoda. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 9, 16: 272-277.

Rodhouse, P.G.; Clarke, M.R. 1985. Growth and distribution of young Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): an Antarctic squid. Vie Milieu 35(3/4): 223-230.

Voss, N.A. 1980. A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Bulletin of Marine Science, 30(2): 365-412.
 
No, but it does breathe fire, crawl out of the ocean to steal sheep, follow a complex migratory path through each of the world's oceans in succession and the Panama Canal, and has been known (in addition to the famous BLOOP!) to speak English, Hebrew, Finnish, and occasionally Pig Latin.

:x
 
Perhaps the release date at the top would suggest that this was, in the truest sense of the term, an April Fool's article. Sigh...

Reporter: "Does it eat pengiuns?"

Steve: "N-!"

Reporter: "Wow, it eats penguins!"

Steve: "Hey, I didn't--"

Reporter: "Geez, if it eats penguins, I'll bet it eats other birds, too! Can it snatch a pelican out of the air?!"

Steve: "Look, you're starting to tick me off...I mean, pelicans don't even--"

Reporter: "My God...these things can snatch large birds in flight...the rumors must be true...they must be able to pull people off boats!!!"

Steve: "(sigh.) Yes. Absolutely."
 

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