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).
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]
“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.
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.
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]
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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