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The Legendary Colossal Squid

           this pic from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Squid                    this pic from http://www.marcoslot.net/files/colossal-squid-2.jpg

     The Colossal squid or Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (binomial name) was first discovered in 1925 in a sperm whales stomach. The Colossal Squid belongs in the kingdom of Animalia. They’re also in the family of the Cranchiidae and in the subfamily of Toaniiae. The species of the colossal squid are hard to find because they can swim as deep as 2200 meters and weigh up 1000 pounds. Like any other squid, the colossal squid has a mantle, eight arms, and two larger tentacles. The Colossal Squid is slightly larger than the Giant Squid. Unlike the Giant Squid's suckers, the colossus’s Squid limbs have sharp hooks on them. Female squids are generally much larger than male squids.

 Like all squid, a giant squid, or colossal squid, has a mantle, eight arms, and two larger tentacles, or clubs. Their arms and tentacles account for most of the squid's enormous size, so giant squid are a lot lighter than their mammoth predators, sperm whales. The inside surfaces of their arms and tentacles are lined with hundreds of circular suction cups, 2 to 5 centimeters (0.79 to 2.0 inches) in diameter, that are each placed on a small stalk. The edges of these suckers are lined with sharp serrated rings of chitin, a type of glucose. To tell the difference between a squid and an octopus, just look at their heads. The octopus's is much rounder, while the squid's is long, slender, and arrow-shaped. One of the most vicious squid is the Humboldt squid, mainly found in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico.  All squid, especially the Humboldt, are the smartest hunters in the ocean. Their skin has fluorescent pigments that they use to communicate with each other by flashing different colors. They coordinate all their attacks with four members holding every limb of their prey. Then they all pull together while others bite at the query with sharp teeth that are perforated and placed in a beak in their round mouth, that's as big as a man's head and along with the sticky suction of the cups, which attach the squid to its prey (but only small squid fight in groups, the Giant fights alone).  It is not rare to find circular scars from suckers on sperm whales that have tangled fins with Giant Squid. The whales still can survive with these scars and the salt of the sea heals their wounds.                                                                                                       

 Recent studies show that giant squid eat deep-sea fish and other types of squid. They catch prey using their two tentacles. They grip it with serrated rings on the ends of their suckers, bring it to their powerful beak, and shred it with the Radula (tongue with small, file-like teeth) before it goes the esophagus. They are believed to be solitary hunters because only individual giant squid have been captured in fishing nets. Although the majority of giant squid caught by trawlers in New Zealand have been associated with the local hoki fish, the fish themselves do not appear in the squid's diet. This suggests that giant squid and hoki eat the same animals.

Giant squid are very widespread, living in every single one of the earth's oceans. They are usually found near continental and island slopes ranging from the North Atlantic Ocean, Newfoundland (where technically, the first giant squid documentation occurred, but there was no film in the 1700's), Norway, the northern British Isles, the islands of the Azores and Madeira, the South Atlantic around southern Africa, the North Pacific around Japan, to the southwestern Pacific around New Zealand and below Australia. Specimens are rare in tropical and polar regions; do to their strict body temperature regimen.

The elusive and fleeting nature of the giant squid and as well as its horrifying appearance have greatly established its place in the human sub-concious, psyche, and imagination. The first account was when in 1878 an Atlantic giant squid was washed up on the shores of Newfoundland, Canada.  It weighed about 2.2 tons and was 6.1 feet long.  In 1888, a second, 57-foot- (17 meter) long squid washed ashore on a New Zealand beach.  It was the biggest kind of squid anyone had ever seen!  They then proceeded to name it Archituethis Dux, meaning ruling squid.  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPlrmdqazs

                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JRz1Rwh6M                           

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Squid 

http://www.tonmo.com/science/public/giantsquidfacts.php

http://www.itsnature.org/sea/other/colossal-squid/