The largest squid in the world. The largest squid in the world: description, history and interesting facts

About squid

Squids are 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 the internal organs are enclosed.

In front is a large head with large 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, squids, like octopuses, can release ink for protection. 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.

There is the so-called Architeuthis - a genus of huge oceanic squid, whose length reaches 18 meters in length. 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 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, about whom Odysseus met in his wanderings, is nothing more than 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.

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). The most big eyes in the animal world among the krakens. 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.

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 the suckers of sea monsters. One was still alive. But he hardly resembled a person. The squid literally chewed him up!”

This is Photoshop.

According to zoologists, it was a carnivorous Humboldt squid that lives in these waters. And he was not alone. The flock deliberately attacked the ship, acted in a coordinated manner 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 squids 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 have had the opportunity or the courage to approach giant squid in 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.

This is how the Englishman Wullen described one such fight: “At first it was like the eruption of an underwater volcano. Looking through binoculars, I was convinced that neither the volcano nor the earthquake had anything to do with what was happening in the ocean. But the forces at work there were so enormous that I can be excused for my first guess: a very large sperm whale was locked in mortal combat with a giant squid almost as big as itself. It seemed as if the endless tentacles of the mollusk had entangled the entire body of the enemy in a continuous net. Even next to the ominously black head of a sperm whale, the squid's head seemed such a terrible object that one would not always dream of it in a nightmare. Huge and bulging eyes against the deathly pale background of the squid’s body made it look like a monstrous ghost.”

Architeuthis... Have you heard about this name that defines sea ​​creature, namely the giant squid? This sea ​​creature has been scaring people for centuries. It's about about the deep-sea squid, which belongs to the family Architeuthidae. Thousands of researchers are hunting for his photo.

It is not surprising that scientists from all over the world are putting a lot of effort into studying such amazing individuals. The first photographs of Architeuthis were taken in 2004. Then the researchers photographed a live squid in its familiar environment. The photo shows squid of incredible size. The first video was filmed two years later, in 2006. The filming was carried out by the same researchers who took the photographs. Scientists observed whales and took photos and videos of a real architeuthis.

Squid incredible big size found in many oceans that exist on our planet. Most often, Architeuthis is found near the British Isles, Newfoundland, Norway, and South Africa. There are huge squids, the largest ones nearby Japanese Islands, Australia, New Zealand. Architeuthis is much less common in polar zones and tropical latitudes.

These squids love depths of 300 meters or more. They are also found at a depth of 1000 meters. Again, all conclusions are drawn from studying the behavior of sperm whales.

Giant squid: what does it eat?

Most big squid goes out hunting only alone. It feeds on shellfish and fish that live on great depth. The squid uses its tentacle to catch prey. Having captured the prey with its suckers, it brings it to its beak and eats it, eats it, having previously crushed it into pieces using its tongue with teeth. This is how the esophagus is replenished with new food.

IN different parts fishermen often pulled out light in their fishing nets architeuthis, but since such squid swam alone, it was not possible to catch more than one individual at a time, which once again confirms the fact that squids prefer an isolated life.

Are you wondering who can hunt architeuthis - the largest, giant squids? Scientists note that currently there is only one animal capable of encroaching on the life of Architeuthis. We are talking about a sperm whale. In some cases, squids can be hunted by sharks and pilot whales that live in the depths. Many people also feed on young giant squid large fish, but when Architeuthis reaches impressive sizes, everyone begins to fear it.

Scientists can only observe natural enemies giant squid - sperm whales, in order to study Architeuthis properly.

It's no secret that giant squids are shocking in size. In general, a squid was recorded whose length was 16.5 meters. It can be emphasized that the giant squid is the largest invertebrate.

What is noteworthy is that the mantle of females is an order of magnitude larger than that of males. The average length of the mantle is 2.5 meters. Impressive parameters. Do you agree? The photo with squid cannot help but shock.

Giant squid: features of its anatomy

Studying giant squids is a fascinating and dangerous activity. You need to clearly understand that the giant squid, like any other, has a mantle, 8 tentacles called “arms” and 2 hunting tentacles. Most of the length of Architeuthis is made up of tentacles. Does anyone have larger tentacles? Absolutely not. Among the cephalopods known to mankind, the squid has the largest tentacles.

In size, such a squid can exceed the sperm whale. As is known, the sperm whale is the main enemy of Architeuthis. But if the sperm whale has mass, the squid is light in weight due to its tentacles. Scientists discovered individuals that weighed about several hundred kilograms. Are architeuthis found with even greater weight? This question remains open, since not all of the depths of the ocean have been explored. And not everywhere, it is not always possible to take photographs.

But let's get back to physiological characteristics squid, which is the largest inhabitant of the seas and oceans among mollusks. As everyone knows, squid tentacles have many hemispherical suction cups. These suction cups can be of different diameters: from 2 to 6 centimeters. Why are such suction cups on the tentacles needed? Firstly, with their help, squids capture prey. Secondly, they use them to restrain the victim. Often the heads of sperm whales are decorated with round scars, just like those left after an attack by the largest squid. It’s scary to imagine what will happen to a person if he falls into the arms of the tentacles. But similar cases have already happened. And it is possible that they will.

The tentacles of Architeuthis are divided into 3 sections, which are called “hands”, “wrist”, “fingers”. The suckers are located especially densely in the 2nd area, there are more than six rows of them. Towards the end of the tentacles there are “brushes”. They are wider than the wrists. It has much fewer rows of suckers, only two, but they are significantly larger.

In the very center of the circle in which the mollusk’s tentacles are located, there is a beak that resembles the beak of a bird (parrot).

Squid have fins. Their size is quite small, but it is enough for movement. The fins are located behind the mantle. Interestingly, Architeuthis often uses a jet mode of locomotion (it is characteristic of all cephalopods). It all happens something like this: such a squid sucks water into the mantle and releases it through a siphon. Is Architeuthis capable of moving very quickly? Of course, if there is a need for it.

Most the hard part The body of the giant squid is considered to be the brain. It is this that scientists study especially closely. Concerning nervous system architeuthis, it should be noted that it is considered highly organized.

A remarkable feature of Architeuthis is that it has the largest eyes: about 27 centimeters, and the pupil is about 9 centimeters. There is no other living organism that could boast such huge eyes. Thanks to them, Architeuthis easily detects the slightest bioluminescent glow of underwater organisms. Can Architeuthis see colors? It remains a mystery. But the fact that the sea creature picks up the differences in gray shades is a fact. And this ability is especially important at depth, in poor lighting conditions.

Giant squids have what is called zero buoyancy. Squid bodies contain ammonium chloride. For the same reason, the meat of such squid is not valuable for people. Are you wondering how fish float on water? They have a swim bladder containing gas and no ammonium chloride in their body, which is why people happily eat many fish.

Like all cephalopods, Architeuthis has statocysts - special organs that allow the huge squid to successfully navigate in the water. Interesting fact: statocysts contain statoliths. From these organs you can determine how old the squid is. They are often compared to the rings on a tree trunk. These rings have already “told” scientists a lot about Architeuthis. Many facts that are reflected in scientific research, were obtained from the abdominal cavity of sperm whales, which swallowed the largest squid. The beaks of Architeuthis are not digested in the stomach; a lot of information can be obtained with their help. By the way, the beaks of small squids are also indigestible, so they must be removed before cooking.

It is not surprising that Architeuthis is attracting so much interest. Scientists began studying the giant “bogeyman” back in 1856. It's a pity that there are no photos from those times.

Large squid (Architheuthis): its impressive size

As noted earlier, giant squids are the largest mollusks among all living invertebrates that live in the seas and oceans in our time. Only nemerteans are longer. But earlier, several hundred years ago, there were cephalopods, the size of which was an order of magnitude larger, but they were already extinct.

People, in fear of the monster, often exaggerated the actual size of the squid. Today, in many places you can find evidence that the oceans are inhabited by individuals whose length reaches 20 meters or more. But, unfortunately, scientists do not have confirmation of this information, just as there are no photographs confirming this fact. Therefore, we are left to live in guesses about who and what inhabits the depths of the sea. But the existing photographs of giant squids attacking sperm whales are truly impressive.

To date, more than 130 species of squid have been studied. The results of the research, as well as photographs, allow us to conclude that Architeuthis is the largest squid in existence. According to recent studies, the most long length the mantle of Architeuthis is 22.25 meters. When this squid died, the body relaxed and its length was 16.5 meters. Heaviest weight architeuthis was 275 and 150 kilograms for females and males, respectively.

Giant squid: breeding features

Very little is known about how the largest squid reproduces. There is an assumption that at the age of 3 years Architeuthis becomes sexually mature. Moreover, females are significantly larger in size than males. Females lay many eggs ranging in size from 0.5 mm. up to 1.4 mm. (length) and from 0.3 mm. Up to 0.7 mm. (width). During the mating process, a grasping penis extends from the mantle of the male squid, releasing spermatophores (they take part in the fertilization of the female). The long penis can reach 90 centimeters. How the sperm gets to the eggs is not yet known.

Serious research was carried out on the coast of New Zealand, where juveniles of Architeuthis were studied. Currently, scientists have decided to use a special aquarium to study the giant squid, so they can conduct more extensive and detailed research.

Very often one could hear from scientists, researchers, and sailors that they saw huge tentacles crawling out of the whale’s mouth. It was a large squid trying to get out of the sperm whale's stomach.

Hollywood films have repeatedly frightened audiences with a giant squid - a huge creature living in the depths of the ocean. Surprisingly, such a creature really exists, like many other large representatives of this species. Below we will figure out what the largest squid in the world is.

This genus of huge oceanic animals reaches a length of eighteen meters. Moreover, the length of the mantle is up to two meters, and the tentacles are up to five. It was found that specimens of this species can be found in temperate and subtropical zones all oceans. They can swim both very close to the surface and in the water column at a depth of about a kilometer. Due to its size, the only enemy that can harm the squid is the sperm whale. It is believed that between them there is constant there's a war going on not for life, but for death, the outcome of which cannot be predicted. Although, probably, the sperm whale is still stronger. The largest representative, 17 meters long, was discovered in 1887 near New Zealand.

Even in ancient times, travelers visiting port taverns told chilling stories about sea monsters unexpectedly emerging from the depths and capable of sinking entire ships by entangling them with their long, powerful tentacles. They were nicknamed krakens and over time, entire legends were created about them. True, most people were very skeptical about such stories. Of course, it was impossible to determine right away where the lie ends and the truth begins.

Aristotle claimed to have seen a huge squid with his own eyes

The famous ancient Greek poet Homer was one of the first to describe the monster in his works. Presumably, Scylla, whom Odysseus met during his journey, is the giant kraken. The Gorgon Medusa received tentacles from a strange creature, however, later they turned into snakes. And we also cannot fail to mention the monster named Hydro, defeated by Hercules. Entering Greek temples, you can see many frescoes depicting huge creatures that entangle ships with tentacles.

Only in 1673 did the myth gain real foundation. In the west of Ireland, the sea washed ashore a creature the size of a large horse, with many appendages and eyes resembling saucers. In addition, he had an impressive beak, shaped like an eagle's. The monster became an exhibit in Dublin, which curious people went to see for a long time. Carl Linnaeus, when compiling his famous classification of species, classified these creatures in the order of mollusks. After some time, scientists managed to properly systematize all the knowledge acquired about squids.

In 1802, a book dedicated to giant squids was published.

There was another incident in 1861. The steamship "Dlekton", sailing along Atlantic Ocean, met with a giant squid. The captain and his crew managed to stick several harpoons into its body, but to no avail: the mollusk disappeared to the bottom, and it’s good that it didn’t drag the ship with it. There were pieces of meat left on the harpoons, each weighing 20 kilograms. The drawing depicting the battle between a man and a squid is still kept in the Academy of Sciences in France.

What does this animal look like? The squid has an elongated cylindrical head and is several meters tall. His skin can change shade, from green to burgundy, depending on his mood. Krakens have the largest eyes in the entire animal kingdom, reaching 25 centimeters in diameter. In the middle of the head there is a so-called beak, consisting of chitin, which helps the animal grind food. The squid's tongue is also very unusual: it is all covered with teeth various shapes, crushing food and pushing it down the throat.

The beak of a huge squid is very powerful and in some cases can bite through a steel cable

There are many stories about the monster and its photographs, including fake ones, roaming the Internet. Most often, stories involve squid attacks on people. For example, in 2011, the story of how a kraken attacked a 12-meter fishing boat and sank it in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses caused widespread resonance. This really happened. All but one fisherman died - and even that last one was brutally mutilated by the giant’s powerful suction cups.

In 2007, the world's largest squid was caught near Antarctica. last years. Of course, scientists really wanted to fully examine it, but at that time they did not have suitable equipment, so they decided to freeze the animal until better times. The giant's parameters are as follows: 9 meters in length, about half a ton in weight. The animal was dubbed mesonychoteuthys, the colossal squid, or the Antarctic giant squid. Its description was first given by the famous zoologist Robson. Since then, information about him has not been updated for a long time, so many have completely forgotten about him. However, in 1970, the larvae of the monster were discovered, and nine years later another adult specimen, reaching a length of a meter, was discovered.

In 2004, Japanese scientists for the first time managed to videotape Mesonychoteuthys at great depths.

At the colossal squid long body unusual torpedo-shaped. The length of the mantle can reach 3 meters, and together with the tentacles - 10. The largest representatives weigh about 500 kilograms. However, there is undocumented evidence of larger individuals.

The mantle itself is quite soft and wide, ending in a sharp tail with powerful fins. When spread out, they are shaped like a heart. The animal has amazing eyes, consisting of a pair of photophores, and truly huge - on average twenty centimeters in diameter. Squid tentacles have large round suckers arranged in two rows, as well as suckers and hooks. He also has so-called “catching hands.” They are massive at the base and thin at the ends. But the mollusk’s main weapon is its hard chitinous beak.

It is worth telling in more detail about the suckers on the tentacles. Their diameter ranges from 2-6 cm; around each sucker there is a chitinous ring with sharp teeth. With their help, the squid can easily grab and hold prey. This leaves circular scars on the victim's skin.

Scars from squid tentacles have been spotted on sperm whales more than once, this confirms the enmity of the species

This type squid live mainly in Antarctic waters, often in groups of several representatives. Closer to the north their numbers decrease. They usually hunt alone. Colossal squids have also been seen off the coast South Africa, South America and New Zealand. The depth of their residence is usually 2-4 kilometers; the huge squid almost does not rise to the surface, so it is very difficult to study the features of their natural behavior. The probable habitats of squids are determined by temperature; they prefer to swim at temperatures from -1 to 0 degrees.

Although very little is known to humans about the life of these creatures, some features were still found out. Their body contains a huge amount of a substance called ammonium chloride, which helps reduce their specific gravity. This is why squids have the greatest buoyancy among mollusks. This gives them the opportunity to silently approach a potential victim, then grab it with tentacles with hooks and tear it to pieces. The most common food for squids are anchovies and different types fish, however, among them it was also observed that they ate their own kind, in particular small and weak representatives of the species.

Almost without moving, they are able to effectively cut through the water column and develop a decent speed

Despite their size and physical strength, squids also have enemies. Of course, the main one is the sperm whale, this was found out from the remains of mollusks in their stomachs. Also, cubs that carelessly rise to the surface can become victims of albatross or Antarctic toothfish - predatory perch-like fish. In many cases, humans also pose a danger to giants: the most delicate squid meat is an ingredient in many dishes. True, taking into account the size of the giant squid, rings from it would be the size of car tires.

Stories and Legends of Giant Squids

Each discovery associated with these creatures caused a huge stir both in the scientific world and among ordinary people. A few years ago, a monster washed up on the shores of New Zealand; its tentacles were 5 meters long. Employees of a nearby museum managed to save the carcass from hungry vultures. Scientists examined the creature and determined that it was an adult female. Squids grow very quickly, but do not live long. It was not possible to understand why exactly the squid died, but it was clearly not hunger or an attack by a predator.

The legend of the Kraken was used by the creators of the film "Pirates" Caribbean Sea: Dead Man's Chest"

But for a long time, scientists had no reason to believe that giant squids actually exist. Due to their deep-sea lifestyle, this is not surprising. And in cases where animals washed ashore, they were already dead and partially decomposed. The creatures have such a terrifying appearance and size that they have always seemed to people like some kind of mystical monsters from the other world. For example, in Jules Verne's famous novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a huge squid attacks a submarine. And the scientist R. Ellis in one of his works notes that the most frightening sight in the world, even scarier than a shark- these are giant, saucer-like squid eyes emerging from the depths of the sea.

For the most part, people are almost always scared by the unknown. Squids practically do not show aggression towards people, however, in legends about sea monsters they have always appeared as the most dangerous representatives animal world. In ancient Norse mythology, an evil Kraken arises, so gigantic that its body, partially protruding from the water, resembles several large islands. This misled the sailors; they rushed there to get clean water and food, but then powerful tentacles burst out of the water, instantly ending the lives of the unfortunates.

Museums store long-discovered and carefully collected specimens, but even they do not give all the answers, do not reveal all the secrets about giant squids

There are many ancient illustrations of how artists of yesteryear imagined this creature. In particular, there are many images mortal combat between a squid and a sperm whale, with the former being presented as the aggressor, which is fundamentally incorrect.

Huge squids, undoubtedly, one of the wonders of nature, which never ceases to amaze people, creating creatures that are even difficult for the human mind to imagine. And those who happened to see these creatures in real life, they will definitely never forget this.

Since ancient times, there have been legends about giant squids, which the ancient Greeks called krakens or teuthys. According to Aristotle, these sea ​​monsters their tentacles covered the masts of galleys and sank them in the waters of the Mediterranean. It turns out that these mythical stories had a real basis, and today largest squid in the world- Architeuthis (Architeuthis Steenstrup), reaches a length of 17.4 meters, its tentacles grow up to 5 meters. At the same time, these are average sizes sea ​​monster. In the recent past, sailors found representatives of this species large sizes, and in prehistoric times the waters of the oceans were plied by squids capable of fighting sea ​​lizards– plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs.

Giant squids of our time

Modern ichthyologists know several species and subspecies of giant squid, which currently live mainly in the middle latitudes of the World Ocean. But no localization of their habitats in depth was noted. Echo sounders recorded the presence of huge in size cephalopods at a depth of about a kilometer, but, mostly, encounters with them were recorded at the surface of the water. It has been noted that deep-sea subspecies of these invertebrate animals can reach larger sizes than their relatives living near the surface of the water.

Today scientists distinguish between the families of giant and colossal squid. If the former (genus Architeuthis) are represented by several species and subspecies, then the latter (genus Mesonychoteuthis) have only one species - the Antarctic deep-sea squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). But information about the size of the Antarctic cephalopod varies.

Despite the widespread distribution of giant squids, there is little oral or written evidence about these mollusks, and for a long time it was not possible to photograph them. For the first time, Architeuthis dux, the largest squid in the world, the photo of which is given below, was photographed on camera in 2004 by ichthyologists of the Japanese National Museum. The same researchers managed to make the first video of an Atlantic squid with gigantic size, in his natural environment a habitat.

The largest Atlantic squid (Architeuthis dux) ever caught by fishermen was 16.5 meters long. At the same time, the length of the tentacles was 11.5 meters, and the body, more “graceful” than that of the Antarctic cephalopod, weighed 275 kilograms.

For the first time, Antarctic squid independent species cephalopods, was described by British ichthyologist Guy Robson in 1925. In 2007, New Zealand whalers caught an Antarctic squid in the Ross Sea, which was 10 meters long, with tentacles reaching seven meters in length. The weight of the animal was slightly less than half a ton. However, there is evidence that fishermen and Antarctic researchers have seen squid with a total length of 14 meters.

In nature, giant squids, except sperm whales, have no worthy rivals. The remains of adult individuals have been found in the stomachs of pilot whales, and sharks feed on juvenile squid. An albatross will happily eat a young squid that has surfaced. Despite the described aggressiveness of giant cephalopods, these animals feed mainly on plankton and young fish. Unlike ordinary squids and octopuses, giant invertebrate inhabitants ocean depths Dont Have " jet engine", and thanks to the zero buoyancy of their body, they soar in the thickness sea ​​water. This is precisely what explains the disproportionate length of the tentacles, which allows the giant squid to capture unwary prey that approaches it.

When considering the question of which oceanic squid is the largest in the world, one cannot fail to mention its closest relative - the giant octopus. In November 2016, the British daily tabloid "Daily Express" published information about the discovery by a Russian Antarctic expedition giant octopus, the dimensions of which exceeded 10 meters. According to one of the expedition members, Anton Padalka, who asked for political asylum in the UK, this monster is capable of paralyzing its potential victim with a stream of ejected poison at a distance of 150 meters. This is exactly how one of the drivers who took part in underwater research died. In addition, the animal is capable of jamming radio signals, and its female is capable of laying about 200 thousand embryos during the mating season. The observed specimen received the code name "Organism 46 - B", and today Russian scientists are considering the possibility of using it for military purposes. A. Padalka believes that the Russian military plans to populate all the lakes of North America with this monster.