Giant squids. The largest squid

There is the so-called Architeuthis - a genus of huge oceanic squid, whose length reaches 18 meters in length. The greatest length of the mantle is 2 m, and the tentacles are up to 5 m. The largest specimen was found in 1887 on the coast of New Zealand - its length was 17.4 meters. Unfortunately, nothing is said about weight.

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Giant squid can be found in subtropical and temperate zones Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They live in the water column, and they can be found both a few meters from the surface and at a depth of one kilometer.

No one is capable of attacking this animal except one, namely the sperm whale. At one time it was believed that a terrible battle was being fought between these two, the outcome of which remained unknown to the last. But, as recent studies have shown, Architeuthis loses in 99% of cases, since power is always on the side of the sperm whale.

If we talk about squid caught in our time, we can talk about a specimen that was caught by fishermen in the Antarctic region in 2007 (see the first photo). Scientists wanted to examine it, but could not - at that time there was no suitable equipment, so they decided to freeze the giant until better times. As for the dimensions, they are as follows: body length - 9 meters, and weight - 495 kilograms. This is the so-called colossal squid or mesonychoteuthis.

And this is possibly a photograph of the largest squid in the world:

Even ancient sailors told stories in sailor taverns horror stories about the attack of monsters that emerged from the abyss and sank entire ships, entangling them with their tentacles. They were called krakens. They became legends. Their existence was viewed rather skeptically. But even Aristotle described a meeting with the “great Teuthys”, from which travelers who plied the waters suffered Mediterranean Sea. Where does reality end and truth begin?

Homer was the first to describe the kraken in his tales. Scylla, whom Odysseus met in his wanderings, is nothing more than a giant kraken. The Gorgon Medusa borrowed tentacles from the monster, which over time transformed into snakes. And, of course, the Hydra, defeated by Hercules, is a distant “relative” of this mysterious creature. On the frescoes of Greek temples you can find images of creatures that wrap their tentacles around entire ships.

Soon the myth took on flesh. People met a mythical monster. This happened in the west of Ireland, when in 1673 a storm washed up on the seashore a creature the size of a horse, with eyes like dishes and many appendages. He had a huge beak, like an eagle's. Remains of the Kraken for a long time were an exhibit that was shown to everyone for big money in Dublin.

Carl Linnaeus, in his famous classification, assigned them to the order of mollusks, calling them Sepia microcosmos. Subsequently, zoologists systematized all known information and were able to give a description of this species. In 1802, Denis de Montfort published the book “General and Particular Natural History of Mollusks,” which subsequently inspired many adventurers to capture the mysterious deep-seated animal.

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The year was 1861, and the steamer Dlekton was making a routine voyage across the Atlantic. Suddenly a giant squid appeared on the horizon. The captain decided to harpoon him. And they were even able to drive several sharp lances into solid kraken. But three hours of struggle were in vain. The mollusk sank to the bottom, almost dragging the ship with it. At the ends of the harpoons there were scraps of meat weighing a total of 20 kilograms. The ship's artist managed to sketch the struggle between man and animal, and this drawing is still kept in the French Academy of Sciences.

A second attempt to capture the kraken alive was made ten years later, when it ended up in a fishing net near Newfoundland. People fought for ten hours with the stubborn and freedom-loving animal. They were able to pull him ashore. The ten-meter carcass was examined by the famous naturalist Harvey, who preserved the kraken in salt water and the exhibit delighted visitors to the London History Museum for many years.

Ten years later, on the other side of the earth, in New Zealand, fishermen were able to catch a twenty-meter clam weighing 200 kilograms. The most recent discovery was a kraken found in the Falkland Islands. It was “only” 8 meters long and is still kept at the Darwin Center in the UK capital.

What is he like? This animal has a cylindrical head, several meters in length. Its body changes color from dark green to crimson-red (depending on the animal’s mood). Krakens have the largest eyes in the animal world. They can be up to 25 centimeters in diameter. In the center of the “head” is the beak. This is a chitinous formation that the animal uses to grind fish and other food. With it, he is able to bite through a steel cable 8 centimeters thick. The kraken's tongue has a curious structure. It is covered with small teeth that have different shapes, allow you to grind food and push it into the esophagus.

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A meeting with a kraken does not always end in victory for people. Like this incredible story wanders on the Internet: in March 2011, a squid attacked fishermen in the Sea of ​​Cortez. In front of people vacationing at the Loreto resort, a huge octopus sank a 12-meter ship. The fishing boat was moving parallel coastline, when suddenly several dozen thick tentacles emerged from the water towards him. They wrapped themselves around the sailors and threw them overboard. Then the monster began to rock the ship until it capsized.

According to an eyewitness: “I saw four or five bodies washed ashore by the surf. Their bodies were almost completely covered with blue spots - from suckers sea ​​monsters. One was still alive. But he hardly resembled a person. The squid literally chewed him up!”

According to zoologists, it was a carnivorous Humboldt squid that lives in these waters. And he was not alone. The flock attacked the ship deliberately, acted harmoniously and consisted mainly of females. There are fewer and fewer fish in these waters and the krakens need to look for food. The fact that they reached people is an alarming sign.

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Below, in the cold and dark depths of the Pacific Ocean, lives a very smart and cautious creature. There are legends all over the world about this truly unearthly creature. But this monster is real.

This is the giant squid or Humboldt squid. It received its name in honor of the Humboldt Current, where it was first discovered. This is a cold current washing the shores South America, but the habitat of this creature is much larger. It extends from Chile north to Central California through Pacific Ocean. Giant squid patrol the depths of the ocean, spending most of their lives at depths of up to 700 meters. Therefore, very little is known about their behavior.

They can reach the height of an adult. Their size can exceed 2 meters. Without any warning, they emerge from the darkness in groups and feed on fish on the surface. Like their octopus relative, giant squids can change their color by opening and closing pigment-filled sacs in their skin called chromatophores. By quickly closing these chromatophores, they turn white. Perhaps this is necessary to distract the attention of other predators, or perhaps it is a form of communication. And if something alarms them or they behave aggressively, then their color turns red.

Fishermen who cast their lines and try to catch these giants off the coast of Central America call them red devils. These same fishermen talk about how squids pulled people overboard and ate them. The squid's behavior does nothing to alleviate these fears. Lightning-fast tentacles armed with spiny suckers grab the victim's flesh and drag him towards a waiting mouth. There the sharp beak breaks and shreds the food. Red Devil Apparently giant squids eat everything they can catch, even their own kind. As a desperate measure of defense, the weaker squid shoots an ink cloud from a sac near its head. This dark pigment is designed to hide and confuse enemies.

Few people have had the opportunity or the courage to approach a giant squid in the water. But one director making a film about wild animals went down into the dark to make this unique material. The squid quickly surrounds him, first showing curiosity and then aggression. The tentacles have grabbed his mask and regulator and this is fraught with the cessation of air. It will be able to restrain the squid and return to the surface if it also shows aggression and behaves like a predator. This short meeting gave some insight into intelligence, strength and

But the real giants are the krakens that live in the Bermuda area. They can reach a length of up to 20 meters, and at the very bottom hide monsters up to 50 meters long. Their targets are sperm whales and whales.

There is the so-called Architeuthis - a genus of huge oceanic squid, whose length reaches 18 meters in length. The greatest length of the mantle is 2 m, and the tentacles are up to 5 m. The largest specimen was found in 1887 on the coast of New Zealand - its length was 17.4 meters. Unfortunately, nothing is said about weight.

Giant squid can be found in the subtropical and temperate zones of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They live in the water column, and they can be found both a few meters from the surface and at a depth of one kilometer.

No one is capable of attacking this animal except one, namely the sperm whale. At one time it was believed that a terrible battle was being fought between these two, the outcome of which remained unknown to the last. But, as recent studies have shown, Architeuthis loses in 99% of cases, since power is always on the side of the sperm whale.

Giant squids of our time

If we talk about squid caught in our time, we can talk about a specimen that was caught by fishermen in the Antarctic region in 2007. Scientists wanted to examine it, but could not - at that time there was no suitable equipment, so they decided to freeze the giant until better times. As for the dimensions, they are as follows: body length - 9 meters, and weight - 495 kilograms. This is the so-called colossal squid or mesonychoteuthis.

And this is possibly a photograph of the largest squid in the world:

Giant squid video

The most detailed video to date of a giant squid, a huge creature that almost never leaves the depths of the seas, was shot in Japan. The squid swam to the pier on the shore of Toyama Bay, where it was met by a diver. Popular Science reports.

About squid

Squids belong to cephalopods. They live in the seas and in all oceans. Types of squid living in northern latitudes, in particular in the waters of the Northern Arctic Ocean, are small in size and, in most cases, colorless. Other species also do not have bright colors, often this pale colors- pinkish, bluish.

The exact number of squid species is unknown, as many species live at great depths, making research difficult.

The average size of all squid is about 25 - 50 cm, with the exception of giant squid. The size of the giant squid can be terrifying: its body length reaches 18 m, and 12 m is just the tentacles. When you see such a creature, you involuntarily remember films about sea monsters.

As for the body structure, it is similar in most species of squid. The body shape is elongated, somewhat reminiscent of a torpedo. The body of a squid, like the body of an octopus, is called a mantle in which internal organs.

Ahead is a large head with big eyes. The head is equipped with ten tentacles, two of which are near the mouth, that is, in the center, and have more powerful suction cups than on the other tentacles. The jaws are beak-shaped, which allows the squid to tear pieces off its prey.

Squids are predators, so they hunt for their prey. They can attack schools of swimming fish, with lightning speed, pouncing on the victim, the squid is able to bite its spine in a matter of seconds. Various plankton, other types of squid, and some mollusks are also obtained for food.

Thanks to the shape of its body, the squid is able to move quickly, as if cutting through the water column. Acceleration is achieved through a special siphon (tube), from which water comes out with powerful pushes. To change the direction of movement, you just need to turn the siphon. Squids can reach speeds exceeding 50 km/h, and flying squids can reach speeds of up to 70 km/h.

Sometimes squid like jet engines, rush through a school of fish and simply tear off a piece of flesh from them: “even if I don’t eat it, I’ll bite it.” The fish eventually dies.

Many species have on their body something like wing-fins, which are used as a balance when swimming. Making a powerful push, the squid jumps out of the water and, spreading its tentacles and wings, glides over the water. They are also called flying squids.

A feature of some types of squid can be considered the ability to glow in the dark, due to the bacteria found in the tissues of these creatures. They use the glow as protection from enemies - suddenly lighting up in a bright color, the surprise plunges the enemy into a kind of stupor and the squid has the opportunity to quickly retreat.

Also, for protection, squids, like octopuses, can release ink. To save their lives, squids often resort to escape by jumping out of the water and flying over the water, that is, disappearing from the enemy’s field of view.

Squids reproduce by laying eggs. After the male fertilizes the female, by transferring a spermatophore - a packet of sperm, the female places it next to the eggs, which she lays on the seabed, or attaches it to algae. During one clutch, the saka lays about two dozen eggs.

The eggs are elongated cylindrical in shape and have White color. The ripening period is one month and a half.

The life span of a squid is short. On average they live about 2 – 3 years.

Squid large species live alone, small, living in upper layers water, gather in flocks.

Record holders in the category most big squid are representatives of the Architeuthis family. These deep sea inhabitants ocean waters, reaching colossal sizes, amaze not only with their dimensions, but very in an unusual way life.

Record holder sizes

Among invertebrate animals, giant squids are recognized as the undisputed leaders in size. Only certain species of already extinct representatives of cephalopods could compete with them.

About frighteningly huge squids It was also mentioned by medieval sailors. Numerous legends described sea creatures of unprecedented size, which, entangling ships with their tentacles, pulled them under water. In those days, mollusks with long tentacles were called teuthys or krakens.

A meeting with one of these Teuthys is described even in the works of Aristotle. Mentioned the existence of the kraken, giving them detailed description, and the great Homer. Images with these amazing creatures can be found on the frescoes of ancient Greek temples.

At the end of the 18th century, Carl Lineus classified giant squids, classifying them as mollusks and giving them the name Sepia microcosmos. Years later, zoologists, having collected and systematized information, were able to give a detailed description of this species. It is not known for certain how many species of giant squid exist. No modern reference book provides such information.

The length of the body of the largest squid in the world today, excluding the hunting tentacles, is about 5 m, the length of the mantle is about 2.5 m. The total length from the beginning of the fins to the tips of the tentacles can reach 26.5 m.

To be fair, it is worth noting that in most cases, measurements were obtained by stretching the hunting tentacles, which are characterized by high elasticity. The maximum total length of one of these record holders in a relaxed state of muscles (after death) was about 17.4 m. This huge mollusk was discovered on the shores of New Zealand in 1887.

Appearance

The artist of the ship Dlekton was first able to depict what a giant squid looks like in 1861, while making a transatlantic voyage. The mollusk swam in close proximity to the steamer. The team decided to harpoon him. A three-hour battle between people and a powerful animal ended with the victory of the squid. He sank into the depths, but at the ends of the harpoons there were pieces of mollusk meat, the total weight of which was over 20 kg. There was enough time for the struggle to have time to examine in detail, and subsequently recreate on canvas a wonder of nature. The drawing depicting a giant squid is still kept in the French Academy of Sciences.

The first footage of huge krakens in the wild was obtained in 2004. They were taken by Japanese scientists at the National Museum of Science while observing the life of other sea creatures - whales.

What do giant squids look like?

Like their relatives, they have a cylindrical body with a hard mantle and 10 tentacles: 2 hunters and 8 regular ones. The inner surface of the tentacles is covered with hundreds of suckers arranged in 6 rows. The birth rings of the suckers, located in the middle row, are equipped with triangular teeth, which allow the animals to hold fleeing prey in their tentacles. Thin, elongated, like threads, tentacles give these sea ​​creatures incredible length.

Animals use fins to move. They are located at the back of the mantle. Giant squids use a jet mode of movement, alternately drawing portions of water into the mantle cavity and then pushing it out through pulsation.

Depending on the mood of the animal, the body changes its color, turning from dark green to burgundy or even bright red in a split second. When threatened by predators, the mollusk releases a cloud of dark ink.

The huge head is decorated with two slightly bulging expressive eyes, the diameter of each of which reaches 25 cm, with pupils measuring 8.5-9 cm. The eyes are designed in such a way that they easily capture even the faint bioluminescent glow of underwater inhabitants.

A chitinous beak is located at an equidistant distance from the eyes. It is necessary for the mollusk to grind fish bones and other hard food. With the help of its beak, the squid can even easily bite through a steel rod with a diameter of 8 cm.

Of particular interest to scientists is the complex brain of these animals and their highly organized nervous system.

Habitat and way of life

You can see with your own eyes the largest squid in the world in almost all the oceans of the Earth. The maximum concentration is in the subtropical and temperate zones of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Some people were lucky enough to observe young individuals at a depth of only fifty meters. Older animals prefer to settle at a depth of 1-1.2 km.

Under natural conditions, huge mollusks live as long as their relatives - only a couple of years. They reach sexual maturity in the first year of life, managing during this period to develop from a larva the size of a marigold to a full-fledged animal the size of a man. Scientists determine the age of squids by the marks of the oral “rings” located on the statoliths - the auditory pebbles of the inner ear.

The large size of squids makes them virtually invulnerable to underwater predators. The only animals that encroach on the life of these invertebrates are sperm whales. The main weapon of fearless heavy sperm whales is incredible assertiveness and strength.

The squids themselves feed deep sea fish and their smaller relatives. They hunt alone. Giant squids do not have teeth, but they have a very unusual tongue. The surface of the tongue is covered with small sharp teeth - radulas, which first grind food and then push it further into the esophagus.

Their large size makes these large mollusks dangerous to humans. A clear example There is a case when in 2011 a squid attacked a 12-meter fishing boat and, wrapping its tentacles around several sailors, threw them overboard.

The largest squid

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