Biodiversity
Brain
Genetics
Marine BiOLogy
MicrobiOLogy
PaleontOLogy
ZoOLogy
AnthropOLogy
ArchaeOLogy
Astronomy
Climate Change
Earth
Physics
Water
A Gigantic Discovery
In 1997, fishermen off the coast of New Zealand caught something unexpected in their nets: a giant squid. The 200-pound male squid was frozen and flown to New York City in a crate labeled "seafood." It was thawed and taken to the American Museum of Natural History, where scientists soaked it in, and injected it with, a preservative called formalin to keep the tissue from decaying. Never before had researchers studied a squid in such good condition. This exciting discovery will help scientists learn more about this mysterious creature of the sea.
Scientific name: Architeuthis dux
Size: up to 60 feet long
Weight: up to 1,000 pounds
Habitat: deep sea
Diet: fish and smaller squid
Predators: sperm whale
Characteristics: eight arms lined with suckers and two longer feeding tentacles with suckers on the end
Significance: the largest invertebrate on Earth
The giant squid moves swiftly through the ocean by:
spinning its tentacles like a propeller on an airplane
grabbing onto hard surfaces and then pushing off through the water
forcing a jet of water out of its body, propelling it through the water
Correct!
A squid moves through the ocean by jet propulsion. It forces water out of its body cavity, which swiftly pushes it forward through the ocean currents.
The giant squid has two long tentacles and eight arms, all with suckers. These are used to:
hold onto prey
hold onto passing boats and ships
grab surfboards
Correct!
A giant squid captures its prey by using its two long feeding tentacles to grab an unsuspecting victim and bring it toward its arms. Then the squid chomps down on its prey with its strong beak.
Since squid live in the dark deep ocean, they have no eyes at all.
Fact
OR
Fiction
?
Fiction
Giant squid have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom -- about the size of a human head!