Paging Captain Nemo...

[camwyn]

or, better yet.... cadhla!!!! Your VicMage stuff leaked into the real world again! Make it STOP!

Super squid surfaces in Antarctic

A colossal squid has been caught in Antarctic waters, the first example of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni retrieved virtually intact from the surface of the ocean.

"All we knew prior to this specimen coming through was that this animal lived in the abyssal environment down in Antarctica," New Zealand squid expert and senior research fellow at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Steve O'Shea, told BBC News Online...

... There have only ever been six specimens of this squid recovered: five have come from the stomachs of sperm whales and the sixth was caught in a trawl net at a depth of 2,000 to 2,200 metres...

This squid has one of the largest beaks known of any squid and also has unique swivelling hooks on the clubs at the ends of its tentacles.

... "When this animal was alive, it really has to be one of the most frightening predators out there. It's without parallel in the oceans," Dr O'Shea said.

The specimen, which was caught in the past few weeks in the Ross Sea, has a mantle length of 2.5 metres. That is a larger mantle than any giant squid that Dr O'Shea has seen and this specimen is still immature, the NZ scientist believes.

"It's only half to two-thirds grown, so it grows up to four metres in mantle length." By comparison, the mantle of the giant squid, Architeuthis dux, is not known to attain more than 2.25 metres...

Colossal squid. With hooks and sharp bits. Lurking in the waters off the continent that parallels Atlantis in the VicMage universe.

One wonders whether the thing is at all related to the source of the St. Augustine Blob.

Comments

[mephron]

Which part is the 'mantle' of the squid?

(And how large is the brain? Can you imagine if this thing was sentient?)

[quintus.livejournal.com]

The mantle is the main body of the squid, so the tentacles will add a fair old bit to the overall length.

As to sentience, Cephalopods (Squid, cuttlefish and octopi) fall now more under the ethical requirements applied to mammals and other vertebrates in research (Previously, as invertebrates they had no more protection from vivisection than a cockroach) so there's some recognition that they're smarter than the average slug. Possibly quite bright.

[camwyn]

If I recall correctly, Architeuthis dux tops out at 55 feet- 17 metres - from one end to the other. Of that 17 metres, the mantle comprises 2.25 meters max, so we're looking at a mantle/full size ratio of .13 or so.

Assuming that this ratio is the same for the colossal squid, and that the scientists' estimates are correct and a full-grown colossal squid mantle can reach 3.5 to 4 meters in length, we're looking at an adult size, end to end, of between 27 and 30 metres in length.

Or between 87 and 97 feet.

And it's cranky.

[camwyn]

The body. The bit that isn't the tentacles, basically. From the point on the forward end to the bit where the tentacles start is the mantle. There's a picture of the squid section they have at the BBC news article, with a scientist examining it for size comparison. It's kinda freaky.

No word on the size of the brain, although I imagine BBC has a link in the sidebar to the web site of the place where it's being studied.

Sentient, colossal, cranky squid. Mr. Arthur C. Clarke, we need that cephalopod expertise/fascination of yours and we need it now.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Most excellent. I like giant squid. Them's good eatin's.

[quintus.livejournal.com]

From the reports of the person who tried eating some A. dux they had in the freezer, no it ain't :-) Giant squid tend to use ammonium ions as a bouyancy regulator and therefore taste like... well... fermented wee-wee.

Still, whatever floats your gastronomic boat I suppose :-)

[cadhla.livejournal.com]

Yay! I warped the world again!