List of colossal squid specimens and sightings

# Date Location Nature of encounter Identification Material cited Material saved Sex Size and measurements Repository Main references Additional references Notes 1 winter of 1924–1925 50 mi (80 km) north of Smith Island, South Shetland From sperm whale stomach Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925 Two arm (brachial) crowns Entire BMNH 1926.3.31.28; syntypes of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925 Robson (1925:272, figs. 1–2); Lipiński et al. (2000:107) Sweeney & Young (2003); O’Shea & Bolstad (2008); Sweeney (2017:[31]) 2 1956/1957 South Orkney Islands (59°41′S 44°14′W / 59.683°S 44.233°W / -59.683; -44.233 (Colossal squid specimen, 1956/1957))
{SWA} From sperm whale stomach Architeuthis sp.; Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925 Head and mantle Undetermined HL: 30 cm; HW: 20 cm; ED: 16–17 cm; ?WL: ~12 m Korabelnikov (1959:103); Yukhov (1974:62) Sweeney & Roper (2001:[56]) Initial identification by I.I. Akimushkin. From 15.8 m long male sperm whale. 3 1956/1957 South Shetland Islands (61°56′S 52°39′W / 61.933°S 52.650°W / -61.933; -52.650 (Colossal squid specimen, 1956/1957))
{SWA} From sperm whale stomach Architeuthis sp.; Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925 Fin only Undetermined FL: 41 cm; FW: 48 cm; ?WL: ~10 m Korabelnikov (1959:103); Yukhov (1974:62) Sweeney & Roper (2001:[56]) Initial identification by I.I. Akimushkin. From 15 m long male sperm whale. 4 1970 (reported) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire Entire? (juvenile) ML: 86 mm McSweeny (1970); Voss (1980:395, figs. 10b,d) Clarke (1986:199); O’Shea & Bolstad (2008); Young & Mangold (2019, 2 figs.) Juvenile specimen. Upper and lower beaks described and illustrated. 5 1975 (reported) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni “large specimen”; ML unknown Klumov & Yukhov (1975) Clarke (1986:199) Upper and lower beaks described and illustrated. 6 1980 (reported) From sperm whale stomach Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire; “nearly complete”, inner organs missing Entire? Female (subadult) ML: 125 cm Voss (1980:394, fig. 10a) O’Shea & Bolstad (2008); Young & Mangold (2019, fig.) 7 1980 (reported) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire Entire? (larva) ML: 23 mm Voss (1980:395, fig. 10c) Young & Mangold (2019, fig.) Advanced paralarva. 8 1980 (reported) From sperm whale stomach(s) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Several partial specimens Entire “large” NMNH Voss (1980:394) O’Shea & Bolstad (2008) One specimen a mature male. Brachial crowns according to O’Shea & Bolstad (2008). 9
(📷) March 1981 Lazarev Sea, off Dronning Maud Land, Antarctic at 750–770 m depth By trawl Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire Female (immature) ML: 2.42 m; EL: 5.1 m Remeslo (2011); Remeslo (2014, figs. 1–4) Ellis (1998:147, fig.) Caught by Soviet trawler Eureka (Эврика). Photographed on deck by Alexander Remeslo. 1982 (reported) Not given Not given Mesonychoteuthis Not given Transverse slice of gladius ML: “at least” 5 m [estimate] Wood (1982:191) Bright (1989:146) Wood (1982:191) provided the following details: “Dr Anna M Bidder (pers. comm.) of the Department of Zoology at Cambridge University, possesses a transverse slice of the pen of another Mesonychoteuthis which, judging by its width, must have come from a cranchid [sic] measuring at least 5 m [16 ft] in mantle length.” The same information is summarised by Bright (1989:146). 10 1985 (reported) at 2000–2200 m depth Trawled in opening-closing net (RMT8) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire? ML: 1.05 m Rodhouse & Clarke (1985) O’Shea & Bolstad (2008) 11 1986 (reported) (47°51′S 40°01′W / 47.850°S 40.017°W / -47.850; -40.017 (Colossal squid specimen, 1986 (reported)), WH 101 I/76) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Lower beak Entire? Female (juvenile) LRL: 7.10 mm; ML: 225.0 mm Clarke (1986:200, fig. A) 12 1986 (reported) S. Georgia From sperm whale stomach Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Lower beak Entire? LRL: 13.50 mm Clarke (1986:200, fig. B) 13 1986 (reported) S. Georgia From sperm whale stomach Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Lower beak Entire? LRL: 20.40 mm Clarke (1986:200, fig. C) 14
(📷) March 2003 Ross Sea Found floating at surface, dead Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire; recovered in three pieces, later reassembled Entire Female (subadult) ML: ~2.5 m; WL: ~5.4 m; LRL: 37/38 mm; WT: ~300 kg NMNZ Griggs (2003); Owen (2003); Hoff (2003:86); O’Shea & Bolstad (2008) Numerous media sources; Remeslo (2011); Remeslo (2014); McClain et al. (2015); Young & Mangold (2019, fig.) Examined at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa by Steve O’Shea and Kat Bolstad, which led them to coin the name “colossal squid” for the species.^[29] 15
(📷) 2003 between Macquarie Island and Stewart Island, ~140 nmi (260 km) south of New Zealand waters (53°49.30′S 159°04.44′E / 53.82167°S 159.07400°E / -53.82167; 159.07400 (Colossal squid specimen, 2003)), at 1143 m depth
{SWP} By trawl Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire Entire Female (immature) ML: 0.9 m [when fresh] Young (2003b); Wassilieff & O’Shea (2006); O’Shea & Bolstad (2008); [SeaPics] (N.d.) Examined by Steve O’Shea (see also medial arm suckers). 16 2004 (reported) “in upper slope waters of the Kerguelen Archipelago” From stomach contents of 22 sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni 89 beaks; 42 lower, 47 upper (minimum number of individuals: 49) Entire LRL: 10.1–38.8 mm; LRL: 22.3 mm ±7.2 [average]; ML: 61–237 cm [estimate]; ML: 136 cm ±44 [average]; WT: 2.1–91.2 kg [estimate]; WT: 24.4 kg ±22.1 [average] Cherel & Duhamel (2004) M. hamiltoni beaks were found in 61.1% (22/36) of sleeper sharks examined. Beaks of this species accounted for 16.1% (89/553) of total recovered cephalopod beaks. M. hamiltoni accounted for 52.0% (1133621/2180535 g) of total reconstituted cephalopod biomass. 17
(📷) 25 June 2005 “South Georgia waters” at 1625 m depth Caught by long-lining fishing vessel targeting Patagonian toothfish; filmed and photographed alive at surface Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire; alive Head with tentacles and arms; mantle too heavy to bring aboard WL: ~5 m [estimate]; WT: 150–200 kg [estimate] [Anonymous] (2005); O’Shea (2005) Caught by longliner Isla Santa Clara. Five men, including the ship’s scientific observer, attempted to bring the squid aboard. Paul McCarthy, the scientific observer, estimated the length and weight of the squid. Specimen was sent to King Edward Point (KEP) Scientists for formal identification. Filmed at the surface by Ramon Ferreira Gomez; possibly first colossal squid to be filmed alive. 18
(📷) 8 January 2007 near Ross Ice Shelf
{SWP} Caught by long-lining fishing vessel targeting Patagonian toothfish; photographed alive at surface Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire; alive None? ML: 12–14 ft (3.7–4.3 m) [estimate?] [Anonymous] (2007a, 3 figs.); Clem (2007, 3 figs.) Photographed alive in the water holding onto a Patagonian toothfish. 19
(📷) “early February” (captured); 22 February 2007 (reported) Ross Sea
{SWP} Caught while fishing for Antarctic toothfish; filmed and photographed alive at surface Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire; alive Entire Female EL: 10 m [initial estimate]; EL: 4.2 m [after thawing]; ML: ~2.5 m; LRL: 41/42.5 mm; EyD: 30–40 cm [estimate]; EyD: 27 cm [after thawing]; LD: 12 cm; WT: 495 kg NMNZ Anderton (2007); [Anonymous] (2007b); Griggs (2007); [Anonymous] (2007c); Black (2008); Atkinson (2008b); extensive official online coverage ([Te Papa], 2008a–v); Mackenzie (2019) Numerous media sources and website; McClain et al. (2015); Joseph (2016:476, fig. 8.24a); Cleal (2020:[16]) On public display. First mature specimen ever recovered and largest extant cephalopod scientifically documented. Caught by New Zealand (Sanford Ltd.) vessel San Aspiring while fishing for Antarctic toothfish. Filmed alive at surface. Placed in cargo net and brought aboard using crane (see video). Weight initially estimated at 450 kg, mantle length at 4 m, and total length at 8–10 m. Tentacles and eyes shrunk considerably post mortem. Thawed and examined by Steve O’Shea, Kat Bolstad, and Tsunemi Kubodera at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Featured in Discovery Channel program “Colossal Squid” (see clip). Most popular exhibit at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.^[30] Featured in Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep,^[31] winner of 2021 Whitley Award for Best Children’s Book.^[32] 20 28 May 2007 (reported) New Zealand?
{SWP} From a research cruise Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Two tentacles ML: 2 m [estimate] Bolstad (2007) 21
(📷) January 2008 D’Urville Sea, off Antarctica Filmed alive at surface feeding on toothfish, which it released after being prodded with long pole; changed colour while lingering at surface, before slowly retreating to deeper water Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Entire None Estimates by eye-witness Alexander Vagin, quoted in [Anonymous] (2013): ML: ~4 m; MW: ≥0.5 m; WL: >5 m [Anonymous] (2013); Garland (2015); Bühler (2015); Millner (2015); Farquhar (2015); Mills (2015); Strege (2015) Young & Mangold (2019) Seen alive at surface by Russian scientists (including Ivan Istomin and Alexander Vagin) on South Korean research vessel during mission to study toothfish; filmed by Istomin. Recorded in 2008 but only made public in 2013; widely reported in English-language media only in 2015. Specimen pulled from depths feeding on line-caught toothfish. Video shows squid changing colour from initial deep red (possibly a stress response) to light pink. Widely misreported as “giant squid”.^[33] 22 20 March 2008 (reported) Ross Sea
{SWP} Caught by New Zealand research vessel Tangaroa “colossal squid” Several specimens Juvenile Atkinson (2008a) [1] 25 May 2008 about 40 km off Portland, Victoria, Australia, at 556 m depth
{SWP} Caught by trawler Zeehaan “colossal squid”; “giant squid” Entire; eyes, skin and fins intact Entire Female EL: >12 m [intact estimate]; ?EL: 5.5–6 m; WT: 245 kg Melbourne Museum, Museum Victoria Burgess (2008); [Anonymous] (2008a); [Anonymous] (2008b); McNamara (2008); [Anonymous] (2008c); [Anonymous] (2008d) Non-mesonychoteuthid. Misidentified as a “colossal squid” in some media reports. Reportedly largest recorded giant squid specimen from Australian waters. Capture of squid described by skipper Rangi Pene. Public dissection took place at Melbourne Museum on 17 July 2008, carried out by team of experts led by Mark Norman. 23 2009 (reported) Kerguelen waters
{SIO} Found in stomach contents of sleeper shark (Somniosus sp.) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Lower beak Entire (adult) LRL: 23.6 mm Xavier & Cherel (2009:55, fig. 10) 24 2009 (reported) Kerguelen waters
{SIO} Found in stomach contents of sleeper shark (Somniosus sp.) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Lower beak Entire (juvenile) LRL: 10.4 mm Xavier & Cherel (2009:56, fig. 10) 25 2009 (reported) Kerguelen waters
{SIO} Found in stomach contents of sleeper shark (Somniosus sp.) Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Upper beak Entire URL: 27.7 mm Xavier & Cherel (2009:86, fig. 10) [2] 7 August 2010 (morning) Houghton Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
{SWP} Found washed ashore in stormwater channel, dead “colossal squid”; “giant squid” Entire; “in bad shape” Beak; other remains left to the elements, washed out to sea around 3 pm ?EL: 3.5–4 m [estimate; “small”] NMNZ Harvey (2010); [Anonymous] (2010); Pollock (2010) Non-mesonychoteuthid. Initially identified as a colossal squid by Department of Conservation Wellington area manager, Rob Stone. Correct identification by Te Papa communications manager, Jane Kieg. Te Papa only interested in beak for examination due to poor condition of specimen; probably attacked at sea. 26
(📷) 2 April 2012 (reported; found in previous week) off Portland, Victoria, Australia
{SWP} Found floating at surface, dead “colossal type [squid]” Entire? ?ML: ~2 m [“body”]; ?MW: ~1 m; WT: 120 kg Collins (2012) Found by local fisherman and boat operator Bob McPherson while fishing for tuna in waters 700 m deep. 27
(📷) mid-2014 Ross Sea at 1200–1800 m depth
{SWP} Caught by New Zealand (Sanford Ltd.) vessel San Aspiring while fishing for Patagonian toothfish “colossal squid” Entire; tentacles missing Entire Female EL: 3.5 m; WT: 350 kg; EyD: 35/37 cm NMNZ Bryner (2014); Farquhar (2014); Feltman (2014); extensive official online coverage ([Te Papa], 2014a–f) Numerous media sources Dissected on 16 September 2014 (eye lens and buccal mass removed); caught “a couple of months” earlier. Dissection led by Kat Bolstad and carried out by staff of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa with help of Auckland University of Technology (including post-graduate researcher Aaron Boyd Evans). Eggs found in mantle. Dissection live streamed on YouTube for 3.5 hours. 28
(📷) 2015 Ross Sea Caught Mesonychoteuthis Entire; “very good condition” Entire (juvenile) ?EL: ~12 cm NMNZ [NIWA] (2015); [Anonymous] (2015) Collected by NIWA during the New Zealand–Australia Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage (29 January – 11 March 2015). Frozen on board ship; later examined at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa by Kat Bolstad and Aaron Boyd Evans. Characteristic hook and sucker combination already discernible on arms.