Moby,
There's little in Chapter 59, "Squid" to indicate which species of teuthid Ishmael and the crew of the
Pequod observe. "A vast pulpy mass, furlongs in length" is all we get for measurements, and what measurements: a furlong is 1/8 of a mile, or 201 meters. The squid's color is described as being "a glancing cream-color," which may be said of any squid whose skin has been rubbed off. No details of the arms or tentacles are to be had, other than their being "innumerable" and prone to "curling and twisting like a nest of anacondas, as if blindly to clutch at any hapless object within reach." (That Melville/Ishmael makes no mention of a giant squid's dramatic eyes is peculiar. The mega-squid described must have lost them in whatever struggle deprived it of its skin and diving capability.) As for locale, the squid is spotted by Daggoo as the
Pequod sails north-east towards Java (Indonesia) from the Crozet Islands, placing the encounter in the middle of the Indian Ocean. That's the right latitude for the giant squid (
Architeuthis) but too far north of the known range of the colossal squid (
Mesonychoteuthis).
Melville/Ishmael cites the whalemen's belief that these mega-squid use their arms to root themselves "to the bed of the ocean; and that the sperm whale, unlike other species, is supplied with teeth in order to attack and tear it." The image of the squid as a benthic tree was likely suggested by the belief that the word "kraken" derived from an old Norwegian word for "uprooted tree." Some squid, such as
Histioteuthis and
Mastigoteuthis have been filmed "standing" on the sea-bed, but we've no reason to think that
Architeuthis or
Mesonychoteuthis make a habit of it. On the other hand, it's churlish to fault Melville for not getting it right.
Moby Dick was published in 1851;
Architeuthis was named (by Japetus Steenstrup) in 1856. 150 years later, we're still guessing about its habits, though the size issue has largely been resolved.
As for Melville's mile-wide squid, this exaggeration must have been a knowing one. Chapter 59 concludes with a brief acknowledgment of Bishop Erik Pontopiddan, who included
kraken lore in his 1755 text
Natural History of Norway. Melville/Ishmael correlates the Bishop's
krake with the "white ghost" he observes, with the caveat that "much abatement is necessary with respect to the incredible bulk he assigns it." A squid "furlongs in length" obviously warrants some abatement itself, so I suspect that Melville was winking at Ishmael, suggesting that his narrator might not be entirely reliable.
Clem