Giant Squid

The movie in class was really interesting. You had to feel bad for the scientist who finally got the discovery channel out on his ship and then killed his 17 baby squid. Giant squid, once believed to be mythical creatures, are squid of the Architeuthidae family, represented by as many as eight species of the genus Architeuthis. They are deep-ocean dwelling animals that can grow to a tremendous size: recent estimates put the maximum size at 10 m for males and 13 m for females from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles. The tentacles are covered in suction cups, each cup has a ring of sharp teeth, therefore when they catch their prey they are both suctioned and perferated. The giant squid is dinner for the sperm whale and it is not uncommon to find circular scares on the whales who have tried or succeed in eating these squid. Another interesting thing is that the giant squid has the largest eyes of any living creature (over 1 foot). They are fasinating creatures and as we heard in class more research is being done to find out even more about these wild creatures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid

Top Picture:
Live_giant_squid_video_December_4_2006.jpg‎ (35KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Still image from the first video of a live giant squid. Filmed on December 4, 2006 by researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan led by Tsunemi Kubodera.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238263,00.html
Copyright: Associated Press/Tsunemi Kubodera