Biology:Cephalopod size
![](/wiki/images/thumb/3/3c/Giant_squid_Ranheim.jpg/250px-Giant_squid_Ranheim.jpg)
Cephalopods, which include squids and octopuses, vary enormously in size. The smallest are only about 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long and weigh less than 1 gram (0.035 oz) at maturity, while the giant squid can exceed 10 metres (33 ft) in length and the colossal squid weighs close to half a tonne (1,100 lb), making them the largest living invertebrates. Living species range in mass more than three-billion-fold,[nb 1] or across nine orders of magnitude, from the lightest hatchlings to the heaviest adults.[4] Certain cephalopod species are also noted for having individual body parts of exceptional size.[5]
Cephalopods were at one time the largest of all organisms on Earth,[6] and numerous species of comparable size to the largest present day squids are known from the fossil record, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids. In terms of mass, the largest of all known cephalopods were likely the giant shelled ammonoids and endocerid nautiloids,[7] though perhaps still second to the largest living cephalopods when considering tissue mass alone.[8]
Cephalopods vastly larger than either giant or colossal squids have been postulated at various times. One of these was the St. Augustine Monster, a large carcass weighing several tonnes that washed ashore on the United States coast near St. Augustine, Florida, in 1896. Reanalyses in 1995 and 2004 of the original tissue samples—together with those of other similar carcasses—showed conclusively that they were all masses of the collagenous matrix of whale blubber.[9]
Giant cephalopods have fascinated humankind for ages. The earliest surviving records are perhaps those of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, both of whom described squids of very large size.[10] Tales of giant squid have been common among mariners since ancient times, and may have inspired the monstrous kraken of Nordic legend, said to be as large as an island and capable of engulfing and sinking any ship.[11] Similar tentacled sea monsters are known from other parts of the globe, including the Akkorokamui of Japan and Te Wheke-a-Muturangi of New Zealand. The Lusca of the Caribbean and Scylla in Greek mythology may also derive from giant squid sightings,[12] as might eyewitness accounts of other sea monsters such as sea serpents.[13]
Cephalopods of enormous size have featured prominently in fiction.[14] Some of the best known examples include the giant squid from Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and its various film adaptations; the giant octopus from the 1955 monster movie It Came from Beneath the Sea; and the giant squid from Peter Benchley's 1991 novel Beast and the TV film adaptation of the same name.
Due to its status as a charismatic megafaunal species, the giant squid has been proposed as an emblematic animal for marine invertebrate conservation.[15] Life-sized models of the giant squid are a common sight in natural history museums around the world,[16] and preserved specimens are much sought after for display.[17]
Size in teuthology
Mantle length
Mantle length (ML) is the standard size measure for coleoid cephalopods (shell diameter being more common for nautiluses) and is almost universally reported in the scientific literature. The mantle is the cephalopod's "body", lying posterior to the head and enclosing the visceral mass and mantle cavity, the latter being used for locomotion by jet propulsion. Unless otherwise indicated, mantle length is measured dorsally over the midline of the mantle (sometimes specified as dorsal mantle length, DML). It is a straight-line measure, not measured over the curve of the body. In Decapodiformes (ten-limbed cephalopods), mantle length is measured from the anterior edge of the mantle (near the head), to the posterior end of the mantle or the apex of the united fins, whichever is longer. In Octopodiformes (eight-limbed cephalopods), the anterior edge of the mantle is not clearly delimited dorsally due to advanced head–mantle fusion, and mantle length is therefore taken from the midpoint between the eyes to the posterior end of the mantle. When ventral mantle length is meant instead of dorsal this is always specified as such and abbreviated VML.[18]
As an indication of overall size, mantle length is generally considered more reliable than total length because cephalopod limbs may easily be stretched beyond their natural length and are often damaged or missing in preserved specimens (this is particularly true of the long tentacles of many squid species).[19] Nevertheless, mantle length is not equally applicable to all species. Certain benthic octopuses such as Callistoctopus ornatus are able to elongate and retract their mantles and therefore mantle length measurements, even when taken from a live specimen, may vary considerably. Another problematic case is that of the gelatinous cirroteuthids, whose weakly muscled mantles are prone to substantial shrinkage during preservation. The interocular distance may be a more reliable standard for this group.[20]
Total length
Total length (TL) is measured along the dorsal midline with the limbs outstretched and in line with the body axis. It is the greatest measurable extent of a specimen from the posterior end of the mantle or fins (or tail, if present[21]) to the apex of the longest limb.[18] It is recommended that arms and tentacles be measured in a relaxed state so as not to exaggerate their length, but historically this practice was not always followed and some of the more extreme published giant squid measurements have been attributed to artificial lengthening of the tentacles.[22] Although total length is often mentioned in relation to the largest cephalopod species, it is otherwise seldom used in teuthology.[23] As with mantle length, it is a straight-line measure.
Total length is not to be confused with arm span—also known as arm spread, radial span, or radial spread—which may be much larger and is often reported for octopuses (for which the arms usually constitute the vast majority of the length). In squids, total length is inclusive of the feeding tentacles, which in some species may be longer than the mantle, head, and arms combined (chiroteuthids such as Asperoteuthis acanthoderma being a prime example).
A related measure is standard length (SL), which is the combined length of the mantle, head, and arms, excluding the often long feeding tentacles.[24] This measure is particularly useful for species such as the giant squid, where almost the entire bulk of the animal takes up less than half of its total length.
Mass
Mass (often abbreviated WT for 'weight') is reported far less frequently than either mantle or total length, and accurate records do not exist for all of the large cephalopod species. It can also vary widely depending on the state of the specimen at the time of weighing (for example, whether it was measured live or dead, wet or dry, frozen or thawed, pre- or post-fixation, with or without egg mass, and so on).
Methods of size determination
In contrast to the vast majority of living cephalopods, which are wholly soft-bodied, size determination of the few surviving shelled species (in terms of shell diameter) is comparatively straightforward and can be accomplished with a high level of precision. Whatever the type of cephalopod, in the absence of whole specimens, size can often be estimated from only partial remains. For example, cephalopod beaks can be used for mantle length, total length and body mass estimation,[25] and this method has notably been used to estimate the maximum size of the colossal squid. The lower rostral length (LRL) of the beak is often used for this purpose. The rostral length of the lower and upper beaks is the standard measure of beak size in Decapodiformes; hood length is preferred for Octopodiformes.[26]
Mantle length has been estimated from video recordings of squid in the wild.[27]
Early life stages
Hatchlings
Hatchlings of Idiosepius thailandicus, possibly the smallest extant cephalopod species at maturity, have a mantle length of around 1 mm (0.039 in).[28] The closely related Idiosepius pygmaeus weighs only 0.00033 g (1.2×10−5 oz) upon hatching and increases in weight to 0.175 g (0.0062 oz) as it reaches maturity in 50 days.[2] Even smaller are the hatchlings of the commercially important Illex illecebrosus, with a mass of 0.00015 g (5.3×10−6 oz).[29] Hatchlings of the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)—one of the two largest octopus species—weigh 0.0253 g (0.00089 oz) on average.[30]
At the other extreme are nautiluses, which upon hatching typically have a shell diameter of 25 mm (1 in) or more (depending on the species), the largest hatchling size among extant invertebrates.[31] Hatchlings of Nautilus belauensis, one of the larger species, are estimated to weigh on the order of 5.9 g (0.21 oz)[nb 2] and mature at around 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) after almost 4000 days, or around 11 years.[2]
Smallest adult size
The smallest adult size among living cephalopods is attained by the so-called pygmy squids, Idiosepius,[32] and certain diminutive species of the genus Octopus, both of which weigh less than 1 gram (0.035 oz) at maturity.[33] Idiosepius thailandicus is perhaps the smallest of all, with females averaging 10.4 mm (0.41 in) in mantle length and males 5.9 mm (0.23 in).[3] Average wet weights are around 0.20 and 0.02 g (0.00705 and 0.00071 oz), respectively.[3]
Other tiny species include members of the bobtail squid family Sepiolidae; the myopsid squid genera Australiteuthis and Pickfordiateuthis; the oegopsid squid genera Abralia and Abraliopsis; the pygmy cuttlefish Sepia pulchra; and the ram's horn squid, Spirula spirula.
Male dwarfism
The octopod superfamily Argonautoidea is characterised by markedly dwarfed males.[34] The four extant genera of the group are Argonauta, Haliphron, Ocythoe, and Tremoctopus, all of which are exclusively pelagic. The greatest disparity in the size of the sexes is seen in the blanket octopuses of the genus Tremoctopus. Norman et al. (2002) reported a fully mature male Tremoctopus violaceus measuring 2.4 cm (0.94 in) in total length and weighing a mere 0.25 g (0.0088 oz). By comparison, the large females of this species reach total lengths of 2 m (6.6 ft) and probably some 10 kg (22 lb) in weight. This is the most extreme sexual size dimorphism known among non-microscopic animals,[nb 3] with mature females being at least 10,000 times heavier than males, and likely up to 40,000 times heavier.[35] The related genera Argonauta and Ocythoe have similarly small males, but the females are not nearly as large as those of Tremoctopus, and the size dimorphism is therefore less pronounced. The females of the fourth argonautoid genus, Haliphron, are the largest of all up to length of 3.5 m (11 ft) and mass of 75 kg (165 lb) (and possibly the largest octopuses of any kind), but the males are also much larger, at up to 30 cm (12 in). So, the size dimorphism is least pronounced of all.[36]
Extinct taxa
Numerous species of so-called micromorphic ammonites are known.[37] Maximites from the Upper Carboniferous is the smallest known ammonoid. Adult specimens reached only 10 mm (0.39 in) in shell diameter.[38]
Maximum size
Scientifically validated records
Squids are the largest living cephalopods in terms of each of mantle length, total length, and mass, with the largest species by at least two of these measures being the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. Reaching an estimated 3 m (9.8 ft) in mantle length and 10 m (33 ft) in total length, and weighing as much as 495 kg (1,091 lb), this species is also the largest of all extant invertebrates.[39] The only other squid that approaches these dimensions is the giant squid of the genus Architeuthis, with females up to 275 kg (606 lb), 2.4 m (7.9 ft) in mantle length, and possibly as much as 15 m (49 ft) in total length, making it likely the longest of all cephalopods.[40] The two largest octopus species—Enteroctopus dofleini and Haliphron atlanticus—can both exceed 70 kg (150 lb), and the former has a maximum total length of more than 6 m (20 ft). Cirrate (finned) octopods can also reach a large size, with the largest captured specimen likely being a Cirrothauma magna of 1.7 m (5.6 ft) total length and 33 cm (13 in) mantle length,[41] though observations from submersibles suggest that members of this group can exceed 4 m (13 ft) in total length.[42]
Members of the other cephalopod groups are substantially smaller, although the largest cuttlefish can exceed 10 kg (22 lb) in weight and 50 cm (1.6 ft) in mantle length. Cephalopods of comparable size to the largest present day squid are known from fossil remains, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids.[43]
Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni)
Though a substantial number of colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) remains have been recorded (Xavier et al., 1999 collated 188 geographical positions for whole or partial specimens caught by commercial and scientific fisheries), very few adult or subadult animals have ever been documented, making it difficult to estimate the maximum size of the species. McClain et al. (2015) stated that only 12 "complete" specimens were known. The largest known complete specimen of the colossal squid was a mature female captured in the Ross Sea in February 2007. Its weight was initially estimated at 450 kg (990 lb), its mantle length at 4 m (13 ft), and its total length at 8–10 m (26–33 ft).[44] Once completely thawed the specimen was found to weigh 495 kg (1,091 lb), but to measure only 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in mantle length and 4.2 m (14 ft) in total length.[45] It is likely that the specimen, and particularly its tentacles, shrank considerably post mortem as a result of dehydration, having been kept in a freezer for 14 months. (As reported by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, specimens of Nototodarus sloanii, the New Zealand arrow squid, can shrink by as much as 22% when dehydrated with alcohol solutions.[45]) The colossal squid specimen contracted by a further 5% after several years in preservative fluid (first formalin and later propylene glycol).[46] The fins of the 2007 Ross Sea specimen measured around 1.2 m (3.9 ft) across and it had a mantle width of 98.2 cm (3.22 ft).[47] The arms ranged in length from 0.85 to 1.15 m (2.8 to 3.8 ft), while the two tentacles were around 2.1 m (6.9 ft) long.[48]
Beaks recovered from sperm whale stomachs indicate the existence of animals surpassing even the 2007 Ross Sea specimen. That specimen had a lower rostral length (LRL) of 42.5 mm (1.67 in) and weighed 495 kg (1,091 lb),[49] where as the 300 kg (660 lb) submature female from 2003 had a LRL of 37 mm (1.5 in).[50] By comparison, the largest known colossal squid beak from a sperm whale stomach measured 49 mm (1.9 in) in LRL.[22] Though the number of large colossal squid specimens known to science is too small to get a good idea of the relationship between beak size and overall body size, a beak of such enormity indicates a truly massive animal weighing perhaps as much as 600–700 kg (1,300–1,500 lb).[49] However, the scaling relationship for this species shows considerable latitude, as demonstrated by a beak of 40 mm (1.6 in) LRL extracted from an animal weighing only 160 kg (350 lb).[49]
Giant squid (Architeuthis dux)
The maximum size of the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) has long been a subject of both popular debate and academic inquiry.[51] Unlike the colossal squid, the giant squid is known from a substantial number of mature specimens. The total number of recorded specimens (across all developmental stages) approaches a thousand, with approximately 700 documented (As of 2015), of which around 460 had been measured in some way.[52] This number has since increased substantially, with 57 specimens recorded from Japanese waters during an exceptional 15-month period between 2014 and 2015.[53]
![](/wiki/images/thumb/f/f2/Giant_squid_melb_aquarium03.jpg/250px-Giant_squid_melb_aquarium03.jpg)
Based on a 40-year data set of more than 50 giant squid specimens, Roper & Shea (2013:114) suggest an average total length at maturity of 11 m (36 ft) and a "rarely encountered maximum length" of 14–15 m (46–49 ft). Of the nearly 100 specimens examined by Clyde Roper, the largest was "46 feet (14 m) long".[55] O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) give a maximum total length of 13 m (43 ft) for females based on the examination of more than 130 specimens, measured post mortem and relaxed, as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Steve O'Shea estimated the maximum total length for males at 10 m (33 ft).[56] Older records of 18 m (59 ft) or more were likely exaggerated by stretching of the long feeding tentacles or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing.[57] O'Shea has stated that, given the available evidence, the highest upper bound he would consider plausible for the giant squid's total length would be 15 m (49 ft), and that the likelihood that there exist 20-metre giant squid is "so exceedingly remote that you couldn't justify the effort in writing about it".[58]
Including the head and arms but excluding the tentacles (standard length, SL), the species very rarely exceeds 5 m (16 ft) according to O'Shea & Bolstad (2008). Paxton (2016a) considers 9.45 m (31.0 ft) to be the greatest reliably measured SL, based on a specimen reported by Verrill (1880a:192), and considers specimens of 10 m (33 ft) SL or more to be "very probable", but these conclusions have been criticised by giant squid experts.[59] O'Shea (2003a) put the maximum weight of female giant squid at 275 kg (606 lb), based on the examination of some 105 specimens as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Giant squid are sexually size dimorphic, with the maximum weight for males estimated at 150 kg (330 lb),[56] though heavier specimens have occasionally been reported (such as a 190 kg (420 lb) specimen[60] and a 163 kg (359 lb) specimen[61]). Roper & Jereb (2010a:121) give a maximum weight of up to 500 kg (1,100 lb), and "possibly greater". Discredited weights of as much as a tonne (2,200 lb) or more are not uncommon in older literature (see below).[22]
Other squid taxa
The third-heaviest extant squid species is Taningia danae, also known as the Dana octopus squid. The largest well documented specimen is a 160 cm ML mature female reported by Roper & Vecchione (1993) from the North Atlantic. The original paper gave the mass of this specimen as 61.4 kg (135 lb), but according to Roper & Jereb (2010h:266) this figure is wrong and stems from a typographical error, the correct mass being 161.4 kg (356 lb). Roper & Vecchione (1993) were however consistent in their use of the 61.4 kg figure. Another similarly large specimen—a female weighing 124 kg (273 lb)—was reported from northern Spanish waters by González et al. (2003:297) (see also initial reports[62]). In July 2010, a sperm whale was photographed off the Azorean island of Faial with a large squid—likely T. danae—in its mouth. The specimen's maximum width, from fin tip to fin tip, was estimated at 1.5–2 m (4.9–6.6 ft); this would approximate its mantle length.[63]
Onykia robusta, previously known as Moroteuthis robusta[64] and sometimes called the robust clubhook squid, has a mantle length of up to 200 cm (6.6 ft).[65] Some older records exceed this, such as the 91.5 in (232 cm) ML reported by Verrill (1876:237) from a specimen with a total length of 14 ft (4.3 m) (excluding the ends of the tentacles, which had been destroyed). Nesis (1987:192) likewise gave a maximum mantle length of 230 cm (7.5 ft), but Roper & Jereb (2010i:364) wrote that "this old record might be in error", with the species commonly growing to 160 cm (5.2 ft) ML. Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:66) provided a maximum total length of 4–6 m (13–20 ft). Literature sources give a maximum weight of 50 kg (110 lb).[66] There exist numerous published records of large individuals of this species.[67]
The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as the 'jumbo squid', grows to a maximum mantle length of at least 120 cm (3.9 ft),[69] if not 150 cm (4.9 ft).[70] The largest animals are found off the western coast of South America; northern populations reach 100 cm (3.3 ft) ML, and in general 50–80 cm (1.6–2.6 ft) ML is more typical for the species.[71] Southern populations may have a total length approaching 2.5 m (8.2 ft),[71] and possibly up to 3.7 m (12 ft).[72] Again, specimens from the northern hemisphere are much smaller, with those off the California n coast reaching total lengths of less than 1.7 m (5.6 ft).[73] The Humboldt squid commonly attains a weight of around 20–30 kg (44–66 lb)[71] and can reach a maximum of 50 kg (110 lb).[74] There are anecdotal reports of much larger individual animals, including from diver Scott Cassell, who has dived with Humboldt squid over 300 times (reportedly more than any other person).[75][nb 4]
Kondakovia longimana, sometimes known as the giant warty squid, is a little known species with a circum-Antarctic distribution in the Southern Ocean. The largest complete specimen, found floating at the surface off the South Orkney Islands, had a mantle length of 108 cm (3.54 ft),[76] but a damaged female specimen with an estimated mantle length of around 150 cm (4.9 ft) is known.[77] The largest complete specimen had a wet weight of 29 kg (64 lb).[76] The species' maximum weight has been estimated at 50 kg (110 lb).[78]
Largest octopodes
The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) grows to more than 6.1 m (20 ft) in total length[79] and at least 60 cm (2.0 ft) in mantle length.[80] Cosgrove (1987) and Cosgrove & McDaniel (2009:69) gave a maximum confirmed weight of 71 kg (157 lb) for a live specimen collected in the mid-1960s.[40] Norman et al. (2014:124) accept a maximum weight of at least 180 kg (400 lb), which approximates the 182.3 kg (402 lb) reported for a specimen caught off Santa Barbara, California , in 1945, of which photographic evidence survives.[81] No specimens approaching this size have been reported since the middle of the 20th century, with recent specimens very rarely exceeding 50 kg (110 lb).[82] It is possible that the maximum size of the species has decreased over this period, perhaps due to bioaccumulation of toxicants (see below).[83]
In 2002, a giant specimen of Haliphron atlanticus, the seven-arm octopus, was caught by fishermen trawling at a depth of 920 m (3,020 ft) off the eastern Chatham Rise, New Zealand. This specimen, the largest of this species and possibly of all octopuses, was the first validated record of Haliphron from the South Pacific. It had a mantle length of 0.69 m (2.3 ft), a total length of 2.90 m (9.5 ft), and a weight of 61.0 kg (134.5 lb), although it was incomplete.[84] The total length of the specimen, when complete, has been estimated at 4 m (13 ft), and its weight at 75 kg (165 lb).[85]
Extinct taxa
![](/wiki/images/thumb/d/df/Parapuzosia_seppenradensis_%28Plate_II%29.jpg/250px-Parapuzosia_seppenradensis_%28Plate_II%29.jpg)
Certain extinct cephalopods rivalled or even exceeded the size of the largest living species.[87] In particular, the subclass Ammonoidea is known to have included a considerable number of species that may be considered "giant" (defined by Stevens, 1988 as those exceeding 1 m (3.3 ft) in shell diameter). The largest confirmed ammonite, a specimen of Parapuzosia seppenradensis discovered in a Germany quarry in 1895, measures 1.742 m (5.72 ft) in diameter,[88] though its living chamber is largely missing. The diameter of the complete shell has been estimated at 2.55 m (8.4 ft), assuming the living chamber took up one-fourth of the outer whorl.[89] Teichert & Kummel (1960:6) suggested an even larger original shell diameter of around 3.5 m (11 ft) for this specimen, assuming the body chamber extended for three-fourths to one full whorl. In 1971 a portion of an ammonite possibly surpassing this specimen was reportedly found in a brickyard in Bottrop, western Germany.[90] A specimen found by Jim Rockwood, from the Late Triassic near Williston Lake, British Columbia, was said to measure more than 8 ft (2.4 m) across, but was later determined to be a concretion.[91]
![](/wiki/images/thumb/7/70/Enchoteuthis_reconstruction.png/250px-Enchoteuthis_reconstruction.png)
Heteromorph ammonites are known to have exceeded 1 m (3.3 ft) in length also, but since their shells were uncoiled to varying degrees, they were overall much smaller than the largest non-heteromorphs. The greatest lengths of all were reached by the orthocones of endocerid nautiloids such as Endoceras, which may have exceeded 8 m (26 ft), although their maximum size is uncertain; while the largest well documented endocerid fossil is likely the 3-metre-long (9.8 ft) shell fragment housed at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, there are published reports of even larger specimens. Teichert (1927) mentioned specimens up to 5 m (16 ft) long from the Middle Ordovician limestone of Estonia[92] and Frey (1995:72) gave a maximum shell length of 6 m (20 ft) for the group. On the subject of endocerid size, nautiloid specialist Rousseau H. Flower wrote:
They are not all large, by any means, but specimens twelve feet [3.7 m] in length have been collected, and fragments of greater diameter indicate a much greater maximum length. I am not wholly inclined to discredit a report of an endoceroid found in a quarry near Watertown New York, which was measured before it was broken up and found to attain a length of 30 feet [9.1 m].[93]
However, the uncoiled length of the largest ammonites far exceeds that of even these giant endocerids. Parapuzosia seppenradensis, the largest known ammonite species, had an estimated maximum unrolled shell length of around 18 m (60 ft). It was also possibly the heaviest of all known cephalopods, past or present, with an estimated live mass of 1,456 kg (3,210 lb), of which the shell would constitute 705 kg.[94] By comparison, the largest endocerids may have weighed around 1,000 kg (2,200 lb).[7] In terms of mass, these are the largest known invertebrates that have ever lived,[95] though perhaps still second to the largest living cephalopods when considering tissue mass alone, since in shell-bearing species the vast majority of the living tissue is restricted to the body chamber, which occupies only a fraction of the internal shell volume.[8] They might also be the largest—or at least longest—shell-bearing animals that have ever lived.[8][nb 5]
Cretaceous Yezo Group in Japan yields multiple taxa of large-sized cephalopod fossil remains. Oegopsid Yezoteuthis giganteus and Haboroteuthis poseidon are only known from jaw elements, which is close to size of that of giant squid. Species of Nanaimoteuthis, especially N. hikidai would be the largest known vampyromorph.[96] Unnamed, incomplete upper jaw fossil that is approximately twice as large as that of the mature giant squid is also found there.[97]
Historical claims
Misidentifications
![](/wiki/images/thumb/1/1c/Moroteuthis_robusta.jpg/300px-Moroteuthis_robusta.jpg)
The maximum sizes of certain cephalopod species, most notably the giant squid and giant Pacific octopus, have often been misreported and exaggerated. The literature on cephalopod size has been further muddied by the frequent misattribution of various squid specimens to the giant squid genus Architeuthis, often based solely on their large size. In the academic literature alone, such misidentifications encompass at least the oegopsid families Chiroteuthidae, Cranchiidae, Ommastrephidae, Onychoteuthidae, and Psychroteuthidae.[99][nb 6] This situation is further confused by the occasional usage of the common name 'giant squid' in reference to large squids of other genera.[100]
Perhaps the most notable misidentification relates to a photograph taken some time before 1993 by diver H. Kubota off southern Japan .[101] The image shows a large individual of Onykia robusta (previously known as Moroteuthis robusta), which appears to be sick or dying, alongside a diver in shallow water.[98] A video of the same animal appeared in a Japanese made-for-television film.[98] The image was published in the 1993 book European Seashells by Guido T. Poppe and Yoshihiro Goto, where it was identified as Architeuthis dux, the giant squid, and said to have been taken in the North Atlantic.[102] If true, this image would represent the first known photograph of a live giant squid. In The Search for the Giant Squid (1998), Richard Ellis wrote:
For a moment, I thought that some obscure photograph had captured the most elusive image in natural history. Fortunately for those who have devoted their lives to searching for Architeuthis, this was only an aberration, a case of mistaken identity.[98]
It would be more than a decade before the true first photographs of a live giant squid in the wild were taken on 30 September 2004 by Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori.[103] Kubodera and his team subsequently became the first to film a live adult giant squid on 4 December 2006,[104] and the first to film a live giant squid in its natural habitat in July 2012.[105] These milestones were preceded by the first footage of a live (paralarval) giant squid in 2001,[106] and the first image of a live adult giant squid on 15 January 2002.[107] Since then, live giant squid have been photographed and filmed on a number of occasions.[108]
Giant squid
![](/wiki/images/thumb/e/e8/Giant_squid_catalina.png/250px-Giant_squid_catalina.png)
Reports of giant squid (Architeuthis dux) specimens reaching or even exceeding 18 m (59 ft) in total length are widespread, but no animals approaching this size have been scientifically documented in recent times.[110] This is despite there being hundreds of specimens available for study (c. 700 documented as of 2015, of which c. 460 measured in some way[52]), including numerous recent examples, such as the 57 specimens recorded from Japanese waters over a 15-month period in 2014–2015.[53] It is now thought likely that such lengths were achieved by great lengthening of the two long feeding tentacles, analogous to stretching elastic bands, or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing.[57]
On the subject of the oft-cited maximum size of 18 metres—or 60 feet—Dery (2013) quoted giant squid experts Steve O'Shea and Clyde Roper:
If this figure [45 ft or 14 m] seems a little short of the Brobdingnagian claims made for Architeuthis in most pop-science stories about the animal, that's probably because virtually every general-interest article dutifully repeats the magic number of 60 feet.
Steve O'Shea deplores the media's perpetuation of what he believes to be a credulity-straining exaggeration, based on the 19th-century biologist Thomas Kirk's eyeball estimate of a specimen's length.[nb 7] In a comment on the final draft of this article, O'Shea wrote, "Kirk paced it, in his own words, for he had no ruler/measure handy, and I believe this misrepresentation has been perpetuated enough; if they were foot-on-foot, as in heel directly to toe, I would accept 57 (or 58, whatever the precise figure was), but I think perpetuating this as fact any longer is doing a disservice to science."
Roper, in his comments on the final draft of this article, was even more conservative, writing, "there are no confirmed records of giant squid longer than about 45 feet [14 m] total length. Most are in the 25–35-foot [7.6–10.7 m] range. I have examined specimens in museums and laboratories around the world—perhaps a 100 or so—and I believe the 60-foot number comes from fear, fantasy, and pulling the highly elastic tentacles out to the near breaking point when they are measured on the shore or on deck."
Largest reported animals
![](/wiki/images/thumb/0/0b/Distribution_of_total_length%2C_mantle_length_and_mass_in_Architeuthis_dux.png/400px-Distribution_of_total_length%2C_mantle_length_and_mass_in_Architeuthis_dux.png)
![](/wiki/images/thumb/0/00/Linear_regressions_for_Architeuthis_dux.png/400px-Linear_regressions_for_Architeuthis_dux.png)
Paxton (2016a) investigated the maximum size of Architeuthis by performing a statistical analysis using data from literature records of giant squid specimens. He selected what he regarded as the largest size records for each of mantle length (ML), standard length (SL), and total length (TL). Paxton's study has been criticised by giant squid experts, who have called into question the reliability of some of the selected literature records.[59]
For mantle length, Paxton (2016a:83) considered the 11 ft (3.35 m) reported by Dell (1952:98) as the "longest measured", though "more reliably" the 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) ML specimen from Lyall Bay, New Zealand, documented by Kirk (1880:312).[nb 8] Paxton added: "A 4.5 m [15 ft] specimen from Mauritius is often mistakenly cited but consultation of the primary paper (Staub, 1993) reveals an ill-defined length which is clearly not ML." The greatest measured ML of a giant squid recovered from a sperm whale is either the 2.4 m (7.9 ft) reported by Keil (1963:320) (though Paxton writes: "the account is confused and the 2.4 m figure probably refers to the head and ML combined") or the 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) of a specimen that had been swallowed whole off the Azores, detailed by Clarke (1955:589) and Clarke (1956:257). The "longest visually estimated" ML, according to Paxton, is the c. 100 ft (30 m) of a specimen apparently observed in the North Atlantic off Portugal, attributed to a personal communication with T. Lipington. A more modest 4 m (13 ft) ML is also given, based on a sighting in the Indian Ocean sourced to the TV documentary of Lynch (2013).
For standard length (excluding the tentacles), Paxton (2016a:83) cited the 31 ft (9.45 m) of the "Three Arms specimen" documented by Verrill (1880a:192) as the "longest measured". Among specimens recovered from sperm whales, the longest "definitely measured" SL is the 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) reported by Clarke (1956:257) and the longest "visually estimated" SL is the c. 9 m (30 ft) attributed to a photograph of a sperm whale with giant squid remains in its jaws,[111] though Paxton conceded that it is "[n]ot clear how much/what portion of body was eaten". For the "longest visually estimated", more extreme supposed SLs of c. 175 ft (53 m) and c. 100 ft (30 m) are cited to Starkey (1963) and Ellis (1998a:246), respectively (the latter an eyewitness account by Dennis Braun). Paxton treated these last two size estimates as SLs as opposed to TLs because "squid do not generally leave their tentacles exposed except when grabbing prey and this appears to be the case for Architeuthis".
For total length, Paxton (2016a:83) considered three records as candidates for the "longest measured": the 19 m (62 ft) specimen of Berzin (1972:199), the 55 ft 2 in (16.81 m) specimen described by Kirk (1888) as Architeuthis longimanus—a strangely proportioned animal that has been much commented on[nb 7]—and the 55 ft (16.76 m) "Thimble Tickle specimen" reported by Verrill (1880a:191), which is often cited as the largest giant squid ever recorded.[nb 9] Of the last one, Paxton wrote: "Sometimes mistakenly cited as 17.37 m (57.0 ft) but the source is clear that it is 55 ft long." The first two records, particularly that of Berzin, are more questionable, as Paxton explained:
The accuracy of the two longest measured TLs of 19 and 16.81 m from a specimen found in the gut of a sperm whale from the Indian Ocean and from the specimen from New Zealand in 1887, respectively, should also be questioned but again are certainly not impossible. The New Zealand specimen (named Architeuthis longimanus Kirk, 1888) clearly has the largest ratio of TL to ML ever known in Architeuthis [...] which led [O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008] to suggest that the length was paced out and/or there was extensive post-mortem stretching. However, a re-reading of the original paper suggests that the specimen, although initially paced out, was actually measured, nevertheless the TL is at the edge of the 99.9% prediction interval range [...] and so it was certainly an unusual specimen. Berzin's (1972) Indian Ocean claim is suspect because of the roundness of the figure, the lack of detailed measurements and because in an associated photo, the mantle (whose length was not given) does not look very large compared to the men in the image. Consequently the measurement, if accurate, would represent another animal with very long tentacles.[117]
![](/wiki/images/thumb/1/1d/Giant_squid_tentacle_saved_by_Moses_Harvey.jpg/250px-Giant_squid_tentacle_saved_by_Moses_Harvey.jpg)
However, as Paxton (2016a:86) pointed out, the genetic analysis of Winkelmann et al. (2013)—which concluded that there is likely a single, globally-distributed species of Architeuthis—did not encompass these two specimens, and it is therefore possible that there exists a second, as yet unsampled, giant squid species with proportionately longer tentacles.
The 19 m (62 ft) total length of the Berzin specimen was later confirmed to be erroneous; according to Valentin Yukhov, who was involved in the specimen's discovery, it should have read 9 m (30 ft).[119] The misprint was reproduced in the English translation published the following year and was later propagated in a number of papers on giant squid.[119] With the Berzin specimen not being as large as originally reported, the longest giant squid recovered from a sperm whale is the 34 ft 5 in (10.49 m) TL individual recorded by Clarke (1956:257) (this specimen also has the longest confirmed ML and SL of any giant squid from a sperm whale).[120] Paxton considered the "longest visually estimated" TL to be the 60 ft (18 m) published by Murray (1874:121), from an eyewitness account by fisherman Theophilus Picot, who claimed to have struck the floating animal from his boat, causing it to attack. Picot managed to hack off one of its tentacles, which was subsequently examined by a number of authors.[121]
Perhaps the largest of all recorded giant squid specimens was the one found floating at the surface off Saint-Gilles, Réunion, on 4 March 2016.[119] Although due to its great size the specimen could not be retrieved in its entirety, the head and arm crown were saved. Crucially, this meant the beak could be measured to estimate the mantle length and total length of the specimen. Using different allometric scaling equations,[nb 10] the lower rostral length of the beak, at 19.74 mm (0.777 in), gave an estimated dorsal mantle length of 215.3–306.0 cm (7.064–10.039 ft) and this, in turn, was used to estimate the total length at 11.025–15.664 m (36.17–51.39 ft).[119]
Supposed sucker scars
![](/wiki/images/thumb/c/c5/Display_of_sperm_whale_and_giant_squid_battling_in_the_Museum_of_Natural_History.jpg/250px-Display_of_sperm_whale_and_giant_squid_battling_in_the_Museum_of_Natural_History.jpg)
More extreme and outlandish giant squid size claims—belonging firmly in the realm of cryptozoology—have appeared in the works of authors such as Bernard Heuvelmans, Willy Ley, and Ivan T. Sanderson.[126] The existence of these gargantuan squids is often supported by reference to the giant circular scars sometimes found on sperm whales, which are assumed to have been inflicted by the suckers of struggling giant squid. Sometimes these claims are accompanied by extrapolations of body size based on the isometric upscaling of a "typical" giant squid.[127] However, such scars are not necessarily of squid origin and may instead represent fungal growths or bite marks, with sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) being one possible source.[128] Even in the case of genuine giant squid sucker marks it is possible that subsequent skin growth has enlarged them well beyond their original dimensions.[129]
Nevertheless, claims of enormous sucker scars are widespread in the literature. Richard Ellis collected some of "the more egregious examples" in his book, The Search for the Giant Squid.[131] These include the claim of Dozier (1976) that "an ordinary giant squid of 50 feet [15 m] leaves teeth-ringed sucker marks measuring between three and four inches [7.6–10.2 cm] across on a whale, but sperm whales have been captured with tentacle marks 18 inches [46 cm] across." L. Harrison Matthews's monographic treatment of the sperm whale, published in 1938, includes the following: "Nearly all male Sperm whales carry scars caused by the suckers and claws of large squids, scars caused by suckers up to 10 cm. [3.9 in] in diameter being common. The claw marks take the form of scratches 2–3 m. [6.6–9.8 ft] in length, and appear to be of more frequent occurrence than sucker marks".[132] Ellis (1998a:142) wrote that this 10 cm figure is "so much larger than any other recorded sucker dimensions that one suspects some sort of error, either in measuring or in transcription."
The subject was covered in some detail by Wood (1982:192):
Measurements of 90 ft [27 m], 130 ft [40 m] and even 200 ft [61 m] have been conjectured for giant squids from the size of sucker marks found on the skins of captured sperm whales, but it is dangerous to place too much reliance on this evidence. Verrill says the largest suckers on the tentacles of a 32 ft [9.8 m] long specimen measured 11⁄4 in [3.2 cm] in diameter, and those on a 52-footer [16 m] about 2 in [5.1 cm]. Daniel (1925), however, examined sucker marks on the head of one cachalot which measured 31⁄2 in [8.9 cm] across, and others measuring up to 5 in [13 cm] in diameter have been found on the skins of sperm whales captured in the North Atlantic. Ivan Sanderson (1956) goes even further and claims that sucker marks over 18 in [46 cm] have been found on the heads of cachalots, but he does not explain how the poor whales managed to escape from the clutches of such colossi!
The general consensus of opinion is that exceptionally large sucker marks, i.e. over 2 in [5.1 cm] in diameter, are old scars that have increased in size as the sperm whale grew.
Perhaps the most extreme published claim, ridiculed by Ellis (1998a:142), appeared in Willy Ley's 1959 book, Exotic Zoology: "Toothed whales, vomiting in death struggle, have shown evidence of still larger kraken; in one case a 6-foot [1.8 m] piece of tentacle, with a diameter of 2 feet [0.6 m; emphasis in original], has been claimed. Another claim goes for marks on the skin of such a whale, looking like the mark of a sucking disk over 2 feet [0.6 m] in diameter".[133]
Marine biologist Frederick Aldrich, who personally examined more than a dozen giant squid specimens, wrote that his largest specimen from Newfoundland bore tentacular suckers "approximately two inches [5.1 cm] in diameter" but that "[s]uckers and their toothed armament of over twelve inches [30 cm] in diameter have been found in the stomachs of sperm whale as indigestible wastes".[134] This led him to entertain the idea of giant squid over 150 ft (46 m) long,[nb 11] and even to suggest a binomial name for this super-sized species, were it ever to be discovered: Architeuthis halpertius.[134]
By comparison, giant squid suckers normally reach a maximum diameter of only a few centimetres. Based on a detailed examination of a number of large specimens from New Zealand waters, Förch (1998:55) wrote that "[t]he largest suckers [...] on the sessile arms are a very constant 21–24 millimetres [0.83–0.94 in] in external diameter". In giant squid the largest suckers of all are found on the central portion of the tentacular club, called the manus, and among the specimens examined by Förch (1998:53) these reached a maximum diameter of 28–32 mm (1.10–1.26 in). Clarke (1980) wrote: "I have not yet seen conclusive evidence to suggest that sucker scars are larger than 3.7 centimetres [1.46 in] across".[138] According to Roper & Boss (1982:97), the largest suckers of the tentacular clubs reach 5.2 cm (2.0 in) in diameter.
Mass estimates
![](/wiki/images/thumb/c/ce/Lifting_giant_squid_in_tarp.jpg/250px-Lifting_giant_squid_in_tarp.jpg)
It is now accepted that the giant squid has a maximum mass of several hundred kilograms,[140] but the literature is rife with claims of much greater weights. Clarke (1966), for example, put the mass of the largest giant squid specimens at around 1 tonne (2,200 lb).[141] Similarly, Richard Ellis wrote: "Where [giant] squid carcasses have actually been weighed, it appears that the longest ones—in the 50-foot [15 m] range, for example—weigh about a ton [910 kg]."[142] Much greater estimates of giant squid mass can be found in, for example, Natural History of Marine Animals by MacGinitie & MacGinitie (1949): "two arms of Architeuthis that were 42 feet [13 m] long were found, and if one reconstructed a body [...] the squid to which these arms belonged was 4.6 feet [1.4 m] in diameter and 24 feet [7.3 m] long, with an overall measurement of 66 feet [20 m]. It would have weighed about 421⁄2 tons [38.6 tonnes]." They added that a 55-foot (17 m) specimen, such as the one reported from Thimble Tickle,[nb 9] "would have weighed 291⁄4 or 30 tons [26.5 or 27.2 tonnes] including the tentacles—a truly noble animal, being a little more than one-fifth the weight of the largest whale and larger than the whale sharks and basking sharks, the largest of all fishes".[143] Ellis characterised these estimates as "unfounded exaggerations".[142] In the revised edition of Natural History of Marine Animals, published in 1968, the authors reduced their estimate to less than 8 tonnes.[144]
Bernard Heuvelmans believed that "there must be Architeuthis weighing more than 5 tons, and some even larger ones which must weigh between 2 and 27 tons, the normal weight being around 8 tons. There are good reasons to believe that there may even exist specimens twice as long as that of Thimble Tickle, which, depending upon their girth, might have weighed between 16 and 216 tons, but more likely around 64 tons."[145] Ellis, who considered these estimates "utterly ridiculous", wrote:
Heuvelmans commits a fundamental error in calculating the weight of some of these monsters when he writes that "the density of living creatures is only slightly higher than that of water ... a decimetre of living flesh weighs about as much as a litre of water." That may be true for some other living creatures, but the flesh of Architeuthis, saturated with ammonium chloride, is lighter than water, and the giant squid is neutrally buoyant. (This is believed to be the reason that dead or dying squid are found floating at the surface or washed up on the beach.) His assumption, therefore, that the 55-foot-long [17 m] Thimble Tickle squid would have "probably weighed near 24 tons" is patently erroneous.[146]
On the subject of the Thimble Tickle specimen's mass, Wood (1982:190) referred to the work of Soviet zoologist and writer Igor Akimushkin:
According to Dr Igor Akimushkin (1965), the Russian teuthologist, a 12 m [39 ft] long giant squid will weigh 1 tonne [2,200 lb] if the head, mantle and arms combined make up half the total length. Since there is a cubic relationship between the linear dimensions of Architeuthis and its volume or weight, this means the Thimble Tickle monster must have scaled about 2.8 tonnes [6,200 lb] (i.e. the weight of a (large bull hippopotamus), although 2 tonnes [4,400 lb] is probably a more realistic figure.
Giant Pacific octopus
The maximum size of the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) has long been a source of debate in the scientific community, with dubious reports of specimens weighing hundreds of kilograms.
Largest reported animals
![](/wiki/images/thumb/6/65/Distribution_of_mass_and_interocular_distance_in_Enteroctopus_dofleini.png/400px-Distribution_of_mass_and_interocular_distance_in_Enteroctopus_dofleini.png)
![](/wiki/images/thumb/4/40/Relationship_between_interocular_distance_and_mass_in_Enteroctopus_dofleini.png/400px-Relationship_between_interocular_distance_and_mass_in_Enteroctopus_dofleini.png)
In 1885, reporting on the longest octopus specimen reliably recorded up to that point, renowned malacologist William Healey Dall wrote:
In 1874 I speared an octopus in the harbor of Iliuliuk, Unalashka, which was afterward hung, by a cord tied around the body immediately behind the arms, to one of the stern davits of the coast survey vessel under my command. As soon as the animal died and the muscles relaxed, I noticed that the tips of the longer tentacles just touched the water. On measuring the distance with a cord, I found it to be sixteen feet [4.9 m], giving the creature a spread from tip to tip of the longest pair of arms, of not less than thirty-two feet [9.8 m]. The arms toward the tips were all exceedingly slender, but rather stout toward the body, which was somewhat over a foot [30 cm] long. The largest suckers were two and a half inches [6.4 cm] in diameter; the whole creature nearly filled a large washtub. Parts of this specimen are now in the U. S. national museum.[147]
In an article for the National Marine Fisheries Service summarising knowledge on the giant Pacific octopus, High (1976:17–18) wrote:
Several octopuses in excess of 100 pounds [45 kg] have been encountered and captured. Much larger ones have been reported but, like the Loch Ness Monster, these usually elude the careful photographer or scientist. Most octopuses weigh less than 70 pounds [32 kg] with a stretched length of 15 feet [4.6 m] or less. Overall length between arms is not a suitable measure because of the animal's unusual elasticity.
In the late 1950s, I interviewed a Canadian commercial diver, Jock MacLean of Prince Rupert, B.C. He reported capturing an immense creature weighing 600 pounds [272 kg] and measuring 32 feet [9.8 m] from arm tip to top. MacLean's photographs, unfortunately, were of poor quality. Smaller animals, to 400 pounds [181 kg], were occasionally taken in his commercial octopus fishing endeavor.
Hochberg & Fields (1980:436) referenced the same specimen, writing: "the largest specimen on record with a total arm spread of 9.6 m [31 ft] and a weight of 272 kg [600 lb]". These figures are only estimates, however, as—contrary to the above quotation from High (1976:17–18)—it appears that this specimen was never collected and measured.[40] Murray Newman, director of the Vancouver Aquarium for 37 years, quoted Jock MacLean in his 1994 memoir, Life in a Fishbowl: "Next year [1957] in the same place, I saw one, maybe thirty-two feet [9.8 m] across and six hundred pounds [272 kg]. Didn't go for her, though, no place to keep her!"[148] Nevertheless, the misleadingly precise metric conversion of 272 kg (for 600 lb) and the imprecise conversion of 9.6 m (for 32 ft; naively employing a conversion factor of 0.3 instead of 0.3048) gained wide acceptance as the maximum recorded dimensions of the giant Pacific octopus, and have been much repeated.[nb 12]
Jock MacLean is also reported to have captured a 198 kg (437 lb) animal with an arm span of 8.5 m (28 ft) near Port Hardy, British Columbia, in March 1956.[150] Another giant specimen was caught off Santa Barbara, California , in 1945. Its weight was recorded as 182.3 kg (402 lb) and the surviving photograph makes it possible to estimate its total length at more than 3 m (9.8 ft) and arm span at 6–6.7 m (20–22 ft).[81] In a book dedicated to the giant Pacific octopus, Cosgrove & McDaniel (2009:72) summarised knowledge on the species's maximum size as follows:
The specimen William Dall speared in 1885 [sic] at Iliuliuk had the largest radial span of any giant Pacific octopus ever measured. Jock MacLean's 1956 Port Hardy behemoth was the biggest ever weighed. The Santa Barbara specimen photographed in 1945 was the second heaviest. It would appear that octopuses weighing as much as 272 kg (600 lb) and with radial spans of over nine metres (30 feet) are within the realm of possibility, but have never actually been documented by both measuring and weighing.
Possible diminution in size
No specimens approaching these extreme sizes have been reported since the middle of the 20th century. This lack of giant individuals is corroborated by commercial octopus fishers; none of those interviewed by Cosgrove & McDaniel (2009) had caught a single animal weighing more than 57 kg (126 lb) in the previous 20 years, among many thousands harvested over that period.[82] Octopus specialist Roland Anderson, a biologist with the Seattle Aquarium for more than 30 years, had long sought, unsuccessfully, to find a giant Pacific octopus weighing more than 100 lb (45 kg). In an attempt to raise a truly enormous specimen, Anderson fed a number of captive males ad libitum. The heaviest animal (nicknamed 'Big') attained a peak weight of 43 kg (95 lb) and its largest suckers measured 7.9 cm (3.1 in) in diameter.[151] Anderson suggested the species might now be maturing at a smaller size as a result of toxicant bioaccumulation, which could explain the lack of truly gigantic specimens in recent times. In particular, high concentrations of heavy metals and PCBs have been identified in the digestive glands of wild giant Pacific octopuses, likely originating from their preferred prey, the red rock crab (Cancer productus).[152] A preliminary study found that aquarium animals fed equal quantities of raw sea food and live C. productus (caught locally in Elliott Bay) matured at a smaller size, reached a lower maximum weight (27 kg [60 lb] mean), and had higher concentrations of most heavy metals, than those fed solely on raw sea food (36 kg [79 lb] mean, including the aforementioned 43 kg [95 lb] specimen).[153]
Largest species by measure
Cephalopod size can be quantified in various ways. Some of the most common size measures are covered below. The following four tables list only extant species; extinct taxa are treated separately at the end.
Mantle length
![](/wiki/images/thumb/6/60/Giant_Homboldt_squid.jpg/250px-Giant_Homboldt_squid.jpg)
![](/wiki/images/thumb/6/69/Bobtail_squid.jpg/250px-Bobtail_squid.jpg)
The list of largest cephalopods by mantle length is dominated by squids, with more than twenty species exceeding the largest-bodied octopuses and cuttlefish. The largest of all is the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) with an estimated maximum mantle length of 3 m (9.8 ft) (Roper & Jereb, 2010c:173). Even greater mantle lengths have historically been reported for the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), but these have been discredited (see O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008).
Teuthida (squids) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (colossal squid) |
≈300 cm (estimate) | Roper & Jereb (2010c:173) | The largest complete specimen, a mature female recovered from the Ross Sea in February 2007, had a mantle length of around 2.5 m ([Anonymous], N.d.)—this being the maximum scientifically documented mantle length (Rosa et al., 2017)—and several other specimens near this size have been recorded. However, at 42.5 mm LRL, its beak is considerably smaller than the largest recovered from a sperm whale stomach (49 mm LRL; O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; [Anonymous], N.d.). Maximum mantle lengths as great as 4 m have been estimated and reported in the past (Young, 2003; O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008). There are published claims of a very large section of gladius that would suggest a colossal squid measuring 5 m or more in mantle length (Wood, 1982:191; Bright, 1989:146).[nb 13] |
Galiteuthis phyllura | ? 265–275 cm (estimate) | Nesis (1985); Nesis (1987:274); Ellis (1998a:149); Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:65); Hoving & Robison (2017:47) | Estimate based on 40 cm long arm and 115 cm tentacle from the Sea of Okhotsk.[nb 14] Roper & Jereb (2010c:165) write: "this is considered a doubtful record that might refer to total length; probably the maximum mantle length is less than 400 to 500 mm". |
Architeuthis dux (giant squid) |
240 cm (female) | Landman et al. (2004:686); O'Shea (2006); Roper & Shea (2013:114) | Dorsal mantle length of female captured off Tasmania, Australia , reported by Landman et al. (2004:686) and cited by Roper & Shea (2013:114). Questionable records of up to 500 cm ML can be found in older literature (Roper & Jereb, 2010a:121). O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) give a maximum mantle length of 225 cm based on the examination of more than 130 specimens, as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Paxton (2016a) accepts a maximum recorded ML of 279 cm, based on the Lyall Bay specimen reported by Kirk (1880:312), but this record has been called into question as the gladius of this specimen—which should approximate the mantle in length—was said to be only 190 cm long (Greshko, 2016).[nb 8] |
Onykia robusta (robust clubhook squid) |
200 cm | Norman (2000:174); Bolstad (2008:107); Okutani (2015b) | Kubodera et al. (1998) give a maximum of at least 161.5 cm ML. The largest specimen seen by Bolstad (2008:107) had a mantle length of 197 cm (USNM 816872; specimen of indeterminate sex from [ ⚑ ] 51°46.9′N 177°39.7′E / 51.7817°N 177.6617°E). Verrill (1876:237) reported a specimen with a mantle length of 232 cm (91.5 in) and a total length of 4.3 m (14 ft) (excluding the ends of the tentacles, which had been destroyed). Nesis (1987:192) likewise gave a maximum mantle length of 230 cm, but Roper & Jereb (2010i:364) wrote that "this old record might be in error", with the species commonly growing to 160 cm ML. Previously known as Moroteuthis robusta (see Bolstad, 2008; Bolstad, 2010). |
Megalocranchia maxima | 185 cm (female) | Kubodera & Horikawa (2005:210) | Size of female caught off Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa, Japan , identified as "Megalocranchia cf. maxima" (see Kubodera & Horikawa, 2005:223 for photograph). This species is listed under the name Megalocranchia fisheri in many older sources. Tsuchiya & Okutani (1993), Roper & Jereb (2010c:171) and Okutani (2015a) give maximum of 180 cm, and Norman (2000:158) gives the same for M. fisheri. This species may also be conspecific with Megalocranchia abyssicola (Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:65). |
Taningia danae (Dana octopus squid) |
170 cm | Nesis (1982); Roper & Jereb (2010h:266) | The largest well documented specimen is a 160 cm ML mature female from the North Atlantic (Roper & Vecchione, 1993:449). |
Dosidicus gigas (Humboldt squid) |
150 cm | Wormuth (1976:38); Norman (2000:165); Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:54) | According to Wormuth (1976:38), specimens reaching 150 cm ML are "not uncommon" off Peru. Roper et al. (2010b:301) give a maximum mantle length of 120 cm for specimens off Chile and around 100 cm for northern populations, with a more typical mantle length of up to 50–80 cm. The review article of Nigmatullin et al. (2001)—based on c. 230 published papers on the species, in addition to other catch data—also gives a maximum mantle length of 120 cm. |
Kondakovia longimana (giant warty squid) |
≈150 cm (estimate; female) | Bolstad (2008:171) | Estimated size of damaged female (NMV F109447; specimen with 21 mm LRL from [ ⚑ ] 63°04.72′S 62°56.02′E / 63.07867°S 62.93367°E). O'Shea (2003b) estimated maximum mantle length as probably exceeding 115 cm. Largest complete specimen measured 108 cm ML (Lynnes & Rodhouse, 2002:1087; Roper & Jereb, 2010i:366). |
Mastigoteuthis cordiformis | 100 cm or more | Roper & Jereb (2010g:253) | Based on unpublished reports; largest verified ML is 70 cm (Roper & Jereb, 2010g:253). |
Lepidoteuthis grimaldii (Grimaldi scaled squid) |
100 cm | Roper & Jereb (2010e:240) | |
Octopoda (octopuses) | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Haliphron atlanticus (seven-arm octopus) |
69 cm (female) | O'Shea (2002:1); O'Shea (2004a:9); Finn (2014a:227) | Mantle length of incomplete 2.90 m TL mature female, measured defrosted and wet, prior to fixing. Isolated beaks of comparable size to that of this specimen were recorded by Clarke (1986:247–248). The sexually dimorphic males reach a mantle length of over 10 cm (Finn, 2014a:227). |
Enteroctopus dofleini (giant Pacific octopus) |
at least 60 cm | Norman (2000:214); Norman et al. (2014:124) | |
Sepiida (cuttlefish) | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Sepia apama (Australian giant cuttlefish) |
50 cm | Reid et al. (2005:68) | |
Sepia latimanus (broadclub cuttlefish) |
50 cm | Reid et al. (2005:92) | |
Sepia hierredda | <50 cm | Reid et al. (2005:88) | |
Sepia officinalis (European common cuttlefish) |
49 cm | Reid et al. (2005:99) | |
Sepia pharaonis (pharaoh cuttlefish) |
42 cm | Reid et al. (2005:107) | |
Sepia lycidas (kisslip cuttlefish) |
38 cm | Reid et al. (2005:96) | |
Sepia ramani | 37.5 cm | Reid et al. (2005:114) | |
Vampyromorphida (vampire squid) – single extant species | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Vampyroteuthis infernalis (vampire squid) |
13 cm | Nesis (1982); Norman & Finn (2014:269) | |
Sepiolida (bobtail squids) | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Austrorossia antillensis | 9 cm | Reid & Jereb (2005:192) | |
Rossia pacifica | 9 cm (female) | Reid & Jereb (2005:185) | Males grow to 4.5 cm in mantle length. |
Rossia macrosoma | 8.5 cm | Reid & Jereb (2005:184) | More typically the mantle length is 2.0–6.0 cm. |
Neorossia caroli | 8.3 cm (female) | Reid & Jereb (2005:190) | Males grow to 5.1 cm in mantle length. |
Spirulida (spirula) – single extant species | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Spirula spirula (ram's horn squid) |
rarely exceeds 4.5 cm | Reid (2005:211) |
Total length
![](/wiki/images/thumb/1/14/LongArmSquid.jpg/250px-LongArmSquid.jpg)
The longest scientifically documented specimens belong to the giant squid, with a maximum total length of 14–15 m (46–49 ft) (Roper & Shea, 2013:114). Despite its proportionally shorter tentacles, the colossal squid may rival the giant squid in total length, but the species's size limits are uncertain because only a handful of mature specimens have been recorded.
Teuthida (squids) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Maximum total length | References | Notes |
Architeuthis dux (giant squid) |
14–15 m (female) | Roper & Shea (2013:114) | Based on a 40-year data set of more than 50 specimens, Roper & Shea (2013:114) suggest an average total length at maturity of 11 m and a "rarely encountered maximum length" of 14–15 m. Of the nearly 100 specimens examined by Roper, the largest was "46 feet (14 m) long" (Cerullo & Roper, 2012:22). O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) give a maximum total length of 13 m for females based on the examination of more than 130 specimens, measured post mortem and relaxed, as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). O'Shea estimated the maximum total length for males at 10 m (O'Shea, 2003a).
Older records of 18 m or more were likely exaggerated by stretching of the long feeding tentacles or resulted from inadequate measurement methods such as pacing (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Roper & Shea, 2013:113). Paxton (2016a) performed a statistical analysis using literature records of giant squid specimens and concluded that "squid with a conservative TL of 20 m would seem likely based on current data", but the study has been heavily criticised by experts in the field (Greshko, 2016). |
Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (colossal squid) |
approaching 9–10 m (estimate) | Roper & Jereb (2010c:173) | The maximum confirmed total length for this species is 6 m (Rosa et al., 2017). Two specimens of M. hamiltoni recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales between 1956 and 1957 off the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands—both initially identified as Architeuthis—reportedly measured around 10 and 12 m, respectively (Sweeney & Roper, 2001:56; see Korabelnikov, 1959:103 and Yukhov, 1974:62). Estimated maximum lengths as great as 12–14 m have appeared in the popular literature (see Anderton, 2007). |
cf. Magnapinna (bigfin squid) |
≈7 m (estimate) | Vecchione et al. (2001a:2505); Vecchione et al. (2001b); Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:67); Roper & Jereb (2010f:247) | Estimate based on specimen observed by commercial ROV operated from the oil-drilling ship Millennium Explorer in January 2000, Mississippi Canyon, Gulf of Mexico ( [ ⚑ ] 28°37′N 88°0′W / 28.617°N 88°W), at a depth of 2195 m (Vecchione et al., 2001b). Bolstad (2003) gives an estimate of at least 8 m TL for the largest observed specimen. |
Asperoteuthis acanthoderma | 5.5 m (+) | Tsuchiya & Okutani (1993) | Total length of immature specimen measuring 0.45 m ML. Much larger specimens of up to 92 cm ML are known (see Kubodera & Horikawa, 2005:223 for photograph). |
Onykia robusta (robust clubhook squid) |
4.3 m (14 ft) (+) | Verrill (1876:237) | Total length of specimen missing ends of tentacles, with a mantle length of 2.32 m (91.5 in) according to Verrill (1876:237). Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:66) give maximum total length of 4–6 m. Previously known as Moroteuthis robusta (see Bolstad, 2008; Bolstad, 2010). |
Galiteuthis phyllura | ? over 4 m (estimate) | Nesis (1985); Ellis (1998a:149); Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:65) | Estimate based on 0.40 m long arm and 1.15 m tentacle from the Sea of Okhotsk.[nb 14] Roper & Jereb (2010c:165) cast doubt on the validity of this record. |
Dosidicus gigas (Humboldt squid) |
possibly up to 3.7 m (12 ft) | Clarke (1966:117); Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:59) | Specimens from the northern hemisphere are much smaller, with those off the California n coast reaching total lengths of less than 1.7 m (Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:59). Roper et al. (2010b:301) give maximum total length of close to 2.5 m for specimens off Chile . |
Megalocranchia maxima | 2.7 m (+) (female) | Young & Mangold (2010) | Total length of 1.65 m ML female taken off Hawaii (see Young & Mangold, 2010 for photograph). Larger specimens of up to 1.85 m ML have been recorded, and these clearly exceed 2.7 m TL (see Kubodera & Horikawa, 2005:223 for photograph). |
Taningia danae (Dana octopus squid) |
2.3 m (female) | Roper & Vecchione (1993:444) | Total length of mature female measuring 160 cm in mantle length, taken from frozen specimen. |
Kondakovia longimana (giant warty squid) |
2.25 m (+) | Lynnes & Rodhouse (2002:1087) | Size of largest complete specimen (1.08 m ML), found floating at surface off South Orkney Islands (see also Carrington, 2000). Much larger specimens up to an estimated 1.5 m ML are known (Bolstad, 2008:171). |
Octopoda (octopuses) | |||
Species | Maximum total length | References | Notes |
Enteroctopus dofleini (giant Pacific octopus) |
>6.1 m | Cosgrove (1987) | Norman et al. (2014:124) give the maximum total length as "more than 3 m". Questionable length records of up to 9.8 m can be found in the literature (see High, 1976:18). |
Cirrina gen. et sp. indet. | over 4 m (estimate) | Voss (1988); Vecchione et al. (2008) | Estimate based on photographic record; finned octopods are known with certainty to reach at least 1.7 m in total length (Collins et al., 2001). |
Haliphron atlanticus (seven-arm octopus) |
4 m (estimate; female) | O'Shea (2004a:9); Finn (2014a:227) | Estimate based on incomplete 2.90 m mature female, measured defrosted and wet, prior to fixing. Isolated beaks of comparable size to that of this specimen were recorded by Clarke (1986:247–248). Males are estimated to reach a total length of 21 cm (Finn, 2014a:227) and perhaps as much as 30 cm (Norman et al., 2002:733). |
Vampyromorphida (vampire squid) – single extant species | |||
Species | Maximum total length | References | Notes |
Vampyroteuthis infernalis (vampire squid) |
≈30 cm | Norman & Finn (2014:269) |
Mass
![](/wiki/images/thumb/9/92/Taningia_danae2.gif/250px-Taningia_danae2.gif)
The heaviest known cephalopod, and the largest living invertebrate, is the colossal squid. The largest recorded specimen of this species, caught in the Ross Sea in 2007, weighed 495 kg (1,091 lb). However, its beak is not the largest known from this species; even bigger colossal squid beaks have been recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales, indicating that this species can grow larger still.
Teuthida (squids) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Maximum mass | References | Notes |
Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (colossal squid) |
495 kg (female) | [Anonymous] (N.d.); Guerra & Segonzac (2014:65); Rosa et al. (2017) | Weight of mature female specimen caught in February 2007, measured after thawing. This specimen was originally estimated to weigh 450 kg (Anderton, 2007). Several other specimens with weights in the hundreds of kilograms have been recorded. Beaks recovered from sperm whale stomachs indicate the existence of even larger specimens, perhaps weighing as much as 600–700 kg ([Anonymous], N.d.). |
Architeuthis dux (giant squid) |
275 kg (female) | O'Shea (2003a); Grist & Jackson (2007:386); Guerra & Segonzac (2014:65) | Maximum size based on the examination of some 105 specimens by O'Shea (2003a), as well as beaks recovered from sperm whales (which do not exceed the size of those found in the largest complete specimens). Maximum weight for males has been estimated at 150 kg (O'Shea, 2003a; see also Grist & Jackson, 2007:386), though heavier specimens have occasionally been reported (see Deagle et al., 2005 for 190 kg specimen, Hofilena, 2014 for 163 kg specimen). Roper & Jereb (2010a:121) give a maximum weight of up to 500 kg, and "possibly greater". Discredited weights of as much as a tonne or more are not uncommon in older literature (O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008). |
Taningia danae (Dana octopus squid) |
161.4 kg (female) | Roper & Jereb (2010h:266) | Weight of 160 cm ML mature female from North Atlantic. Specimen weighed prior to freezing (Roper & Vecchione, 1993:444). According to Roper & Jereb (2010h:266), the previously reported maximum weight of 61.4 kg (based on the same specimen) stems from a typographical error in the original paper of Roper & Vecchione (1993). This lower value was repeated by a number of subsequent authors, including Santos et al. (2001:355) and Kubodera et al. (2006:1029). |
Onykia robusta (robust clubhook squid) |
50 kg | Roper et al. (1984); Roper & Jereb (2010i:364); Guerra & Segonzac (2014:65); Okutani (2015b) | Previously known as Moroteuthis robusta (see Bolstad, 2008; Bolstad, 2010). |
Dosidicus gigas (Humboldt squid) |
50 kg | Nigmatullin et al. (2001:10); Roper et al. (2010b:301); [Anonymous] (N.d.) | Commonly reaches a maximum weight of around 20–30 kg (Roper et al., 2010b:301). In their introduction to the family Ommastrephidae, Roper et al. (2010b:269) give a maximum weight of 55–65 kg, but this is contradicted later in the same work by the 50 kg figure in the main species account. Guerra & Segonzac (2014:65) give a maximum weight of 90 kg. |
Kondakovia longimana (giant warty squid) |
50 kg (estimate) | Guerra & Segonzac (2014:65) | Largest complete specimen, found floating at surface off South Orkney Islands, had a wet weight of 29 kg and a mantle length of 108 cm (Lynnes & Rodhouse, 2002:1087; see also Carrington, 2000), but a damaged female specimen with an estimated mantle length of around 150 cm is known (Bolstad, 2008:171). |
Thysanoteuthis rhombus (diamondback squid) |
30 kg | Miyahara et al. (2006); Roper & Jereb (2010k:385) | Probably exceeds the recorded mass of 30 kg according to Roper & Jereb (2010k:385). |
Ommastrephes bartramii (neon flying squid) |
20–25 kg (female) | Roper et al. (2010b:296) | Maximum size of specimens from North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere (where males reach 2–2.2 kg). Females from the North Pacific are smaller (6 kg), but males may be larger (2–2.9 kg) (Roper et al., 2010b:296). |
Megalocranchia maxima | 23.9 kg (52.7 lb) (+) | [Anonymous] (2015b); Mosendz (2015) | Mass of specimen found floating dead off Hawaii, estimated to measure at least 2.1 m (7 ft) TL, tentatively identified as Megalocranchia fisheri. Larger specimens reaching and even exceeding 2.7 m TL have been recorded, though were apparently not weighed (see Kubodera & Horikawa, 2005:223; Young & Mangold, 2010). |
Onykia robsoni (rugose hooked squid) |
11.1 kg (female) | Vecchione et al. (2011) | Weight of mature female (88.5 cm ML) caught in bottom trawl at 685–700 m depth over Chatham Rise ( [ ⚑ ] 44°21′S 175°32′E / 44.35°S 175.533°E). Previously known as Moroteuthis robsoni (see Bolstad, 2008; Bolstad, 2010). |
Octopoda (octopuses) | |||
Species | Maximum mass | References | Notes |
Enteroctopus dofleini (giant Pacific octopus) |
? >180 kg | Norman et al. (2014:124) | Cosgrove (1987) and Cosgrove & McDaniel (2009:69) gave a maximum confirmed weight of 71 kg for a live specimen collected in the mid-1960s (McClain et al., 2015). There exists a dubious record of a 272 kg specimen which is sometimes cited as the largest known (see High, 1976:18; Hochberg & Fields, 1980:436; Lewy, 2002:65), although it was never actually collected and weighed (Newman, 1994:66; McClain et al., 2015). Norman et al. (2014:124) accept a maximum weight of at least 180 kg, which approximates the 182.3 kg reported for a specimen caught off Santa Barbara, California , in 1945, of which photographic evidence survives (Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:67–69). No specimens approaching this size have been reported since the middle of the 20th century, with recent specimens very rarely exceeding 50 kg (Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71). It is possible that the maximum size of the species has decreased over this period, perhaps due to bioaccumulation of toxicants (Anderson, 2003:3; Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71). |
Haliphron atlanticus (seven-arm octopus) |
75 kg (estimate; female) | O'Shea (2004a:9) | Estimate based on incomplete 61.0 kg mature female, measured defrosted and wet, prior to fixing. Isolated beaks of comparable size to that of the present specimen were recorded by Clarke (1986:247–248). |
Sepiida (cuttlefish) | |||
Species | Maximum mass | References | Notes |
Sepia apama (Australian giant cuttlefish) |
>10.5 kg | Reid et al. (2005:68) | |
Sepia latimanus (broadclub cuttlefish) |
10 kg | Reid et al. (2005:92) | |
Sepia hierredda | >7.5 kg | Reid et al. (2005:88) | |
Sepia lycidas (kisslip cuttlefish) |
5 kg | Reid et al. (2005:96) | |
Sepia pharaonis (pharaoh cuttlefish) |
5 kg | Reid et al. (2005:107) | |
Sepia officinalis (European common cuttlefish) |
4 kg | Reid et al. (2005:99) |
Shell diameter
Nautiluses are the only extant cephalopods with a true external shell; in other groups the shell has been internalised or lost completely. Internal shells include the cuttlebones of cuttlefish, the gladii of squids and the vampire squid, the winged shells of cirrate octopods, and the spiral shells of Spirula. Additionally, females of the octopus genus Argonauta secrete a specialised paper-thin eggcase in which they reside, and this is popularly regarded as a "shell", although it is not attached to the body of the animal (see Finn, 2013).
Cephalopod shell diameter is of interest to teuthologists and conchologists alike. The Registry of World Record Size Shells, the most comprehensive publication on maximum shell size in marine molluscs, specifies that specimens "should be measured with vernier type calipers and should reflect the greatest measurable dimension of the shell in any direction including any processes of hard shell material produced by the animal (i.e. spines, wings, keels, siphonal canals, etc.) and not including attachments, barnacles, coralline algae, or any other encrusting organisms" (Pisor, 2008:14). Unlike most other measures of cephalopod size, shell diameter can be determined with a high degree of precision and usually leaves little room for ambiguity. For this reason it is usually recorded to the nearest one-tenth of a millimetre (0.0039 in), as is standard in conchology.
When the Registry of World Record Size Shells changed ownership in 2008 it was launched as an online database in addition to its print publication. Subsequent rule changes meant that all records required photographic verification. Over time, older records for which photographic evidence could not be obtained were removed from the database. As a result, some records from older editions of the registry actually exceed the size of the current official record holders, sometimes by considerable margins. Where this has occurred, the largest recorded size across all editions is shown first and any discrepancies or competing records are noted thereafter. Where a reliable literature record surpasses all specimens ever included in the registry, this is given instead and the registry record(s) noted thereafter. Pisor (2008) was the fifth and final print edition of the registry published prior to the rule change, and Barbier et al. (N.d.) is the current, continuously updated online database. The registry only covers the shells of nautiluses and Spirula and the eggcases of Argonauta.
Octopoda (octopuses) – all extant Argonauta species listed | |||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Maximum shell diameter | References | Notes |
Argonauta argo (greater argonaut) |
300.0 mm | Pisor (2008:22); Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Pisor (2008:22) listed this size for a specimen from Australia (registered in 1991; in collection of SIO). Barbier et al. (N.d.) list exactly the same size for a specimen from the Philippines (year given as 1985; in private collection of Beals Marty). For a discussion of maximum shell size in this species, see Finn (2013:199). The largest literature record (and the only one to exceed the official world record size) appears to be the rough upper limit of 12 in (304.8 mm) given by Webb (1945:13) for the species as a whole (Finn, 2013:199).
Under Argonauta cygnus, Pisor (2008:22) listed a 220.0 mm record for a specimen from western Mexico (acquired in 1995; in collection of SIO). The same specimen was previously listed under Argonauta pacificus (as A. pacifica) by Pisor (2005:12). Both A. cygnus and A. pacificus are considered synonyms of A. argo by Finn (2013) and Finn (2014b). |
Argonauta nodosus (knobbed argonaut) |
292.0 mm | Pisor (2008:22) | Size of a specimen from South Australia (registered in 1977; in collection of AMNH). Barbier et al. (N.d.) list a record of 204.0 mm for a specimen from the "Tasmania area", Australia (year given as 2000; in private collection of B. Henke). For a discussion of maximum shell size in this species, see Finn (2013:167); a number of unconfirmed reports put the maximum size beyond 300 mm. |
Argonauta hians (muddy argonaut) |
121.61 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea (year given as 1995; in private collection of Simon Weigmann). Pisor (2008:22) listed a record of 112.6 mm for a specimen from the Philippines (registered in 1988; in private collection of Victor Dan). For a discussion of maximum shell size in this species, see Finn (2013:186); none of the records discussed therein exceed the current world record specimen. |
Argonauta boettgeri[nb 15] | 108.03 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen taken from the China Sea off Zhejiang Province by a local fisherman (year given as 2005; in private collection of Simon Weigmann). Pisor (2008:22) listed a record of 102.2 mm for a specimen from the Philippines (collected in 2005; in collection of Havelet Marine). Pisor (2005:12) listed a record of 67.0 mm for a specimen from Mozambique, which is the locus classicus of this species (registered in 2003; in private collection of Pete Stimpson). |
Argonauta cornutus[nb 15] | 98.7 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from western Mexico (year given as 1985; in collection of W. D. Schroeder). Pisor (2008:22) listed possibly the same specimen, also from western Mexico, at 98.6 mm (collected in 1999; in private collection of W. D. Schroeder). |
Argonauta nouryi | 95.5 mm | Pisor (2008:22); Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from California (collected in 1992; in collection of Havelet Marine). For a discussion of maximum shell size in this species, see Finn (2013:207); none of the records discussed therein exceed the current world record specimen (when including A. cornutus, which Finn treats as a synonym of A. nouryi). |
Nautilida (nautiluses) – all extant species listed | |||
Species | Maximum shell diameter | References | Notes |
Nautilus pompilius pompilius (emperor nautilus) |
254.0 mm | Pisor (2008:121); Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from Indonesia (registered in 2003; in private collection of Pete Stimpson), listed as N. p. pompilius. Hutsell et al. (1997:48) listed a 253.0 mm specimen, also from Indonesia (collected in 1983; in private collection of Cecelia Abbott). Harasewych & Moretzsohn (2010:632) give a maximum shell diameter of 268 mm for this species, but this is based on an erroneous record.[nb 16]
Under N. repertus (which is treated here in synonymy with N. p. pompilius; Jereb (2005:53) considered it a "questionable species"), Pisor (2005:93) listed a 230.0 mm record for a specimen from Indonesia (registered in 2000; in private collection of Pete Stimpson), Pisor (2008) did not include the taxon at all, while Barbier et al. (N.d.) list a record of 242.07 mm for a specimen from India (no year given; in private collection of Simon Weigmann). The largest albinistic N. p. pompilius is listed by Barbier et al. (N.d.) as a 175.0 mm specimen trawled at 400 m depth off Zamboanga in the Philippines (year given as 2013; in collection of Havelet Marine). |
Nautilus stenomphalus (white-patch nautilus) |
239.39 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from Timor Island, Indonesia (year given as 2009; in private collection of Simon Weigmann). Under N. pompilius f. stenomphalus, Pisor (2008:121) listed a maximum shell diameter of 221.0 mm for a specimen from the Philippines (no year given; in collection of Havelet Marine). |
Nautilus belauensis (Palau nautilus) |
239 mm | Grulke (2016:76) | Grulke (2016:76) gives an adult shell size range of 180–239 mm, and a mean adult shell diameter of 200 mm. Jereb (2005:54) gives 226 mm as the maximum size for the species, with no reference to a particular specimen. Pisor (2008:121) and Barbier et al. (N.d.) list a record of 221.0 mm for a specimen from Babeldaob, Palau (year given as 1980; in collection of Havelet Marine). |
Nautilus pompilius suluensis | 220.0 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from the Philippines (year given as 2000; in private collection of Pete Stimpson). Pisor (2008:121) listed a maximum shell diameter of 148.0 mm for a specimen from the Philippines (registered in 2000; in private collection of Pete Stimpson). N. p. suluensis is a dwarf form from the Sulu Sea that has the smallest mean shell diameter of all known extant nautilus populations, at 115.6 mm (Dunstan et al., 2011). |
Allonautilus scrobiculatus (crusty nautilus) |
215.0 mm | Pisor (2005:93) | Size of a specimen from the Philippines (registered in 2000; in private collection of Pete Stimpson), listed as Nautilus scrobiculatus. Pisor (2008) did not include this species at all. Barbier et al. (N.d.) list a record of 214.0 mm for a specimen from Indonesia (year given as 2013; in private collection of Pete Stimpson). |
Nautilus macromphalus (bellybutton nautilus) |
180.62 mm | Barbier et al. (N.d.) | Size of a specimen from New Caledonia (year given as 2008; in private collection of Simon Weigmann). Pisor (2008:121) listed a maximum shell diameter of 180.0 mm for a specimen from New Caledonia (collected in 1995; in private collection of Kent Trego). |
Allonautilus perforatus | around 180 mm | Jereb (2005:55); Grulke (2016:83) | Given as the maximum size for the species, with no reference to a particular specimen. Jereb (2005:55) considered A. perforatus a "[v]ery rare form of questionable validity". |
Spirulida (spirula) – single extant species | |||
Species | Maximum shell diameter | References | Notes |
Spirula spirula (ram's horn squid) |
28.8 mm | [Anonymous] (2003c) | Size of a specimen from Samar Island, the Philippines (collected in 2003). Pisor (2008:139) and Barbier et al. (N.d.) list a record of 27.2 mm for a specimen from Phuket Island, Thailand (collected c. 2000; in collection of Havelet Marine; see [Anonymous], 2006 for online record). |
Extinct taxa
![](/wiki/images/thumb/9/90/Parapuzosia_seppenradensis_%28Plate_I%29.jpg/250px-Parapuzosia_seppenradensis_%28Plate_I%29.jpg)
![](/wiki/images/thumb/2/25/Pachydesmoceras_pachydiscoide.jpg/250px-Pachydesmoceras_pachydiscoide.jpg)
![](/wiki/images/thumb/4/4a/Orthoceras_BW.jpg/250px-Orthoceras_BW.jpg)
Ammonoidea (ammonoids) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Species | Maximum shell diameter (length for heteromorphs) | References | Notes |
Parapuzosia seppenradensis | 2–3.5 m (estimate) | Landois (1895:100); Landois (1898:27); Teichert & Kummel (1960:6); Summesberger (1979:128); Holland (1987:6); Kennedy & Kaplan (1995:21); Lewy (2002:66); frim et al. (2021) | Widely recognised as the largest ammonite specimen ever found (Payne et al., 2009:27; Grulke, 2014:124). Discovered in 1895 in a quarry in Seppenrade, Coesfeld, Germany , the original is on display at the Westfälisches Museum für Naturkunde in Münster. Estimate based on lectotype measuring 1.742 m in diameter (Kennedy & Kaplan, 1995:21) with an incomplete living chamber, assuming living chamber took up one-fourth of the outer whorl. Teichert & Kummel (1960:6) suggested an even larger shell diameter of around 3.5 m for this specimen, assuming the body chamber extended for three-fourths to one full whorl. Landois (1898:27) estimated the total live weight at 1456 kg, of which the shell would constitute 705 kg. The fossil itself weighs around 3.5 tonnes (Beer, 2015). A smaller specimen of 1.36 m was found in the same quarry some years earlier (Beer, 2015). In 1971 a portion of an ammonite possibly surpassing the Seppenrade specimen was reportedly found in a brickyard in Bottrop, western Germany (Beer, 2015). In 2021, diameter of 2 m is estimated for the largest specimen.[154] |
Parapuzosia bradyi | >1.8 m (estimate) | Larson et al. (1997:44); Lewy (2002:66) | Largest known North American ammonite. Estimate based on incomplete specimen measuring 1.37 m in diameter (missing at least half a whorl of the body chamber). |
Peltoceratinae gen. et sp. indet. | 1.78 m (estimate) | Poulton (1989) | Estimate based on small portion of outer whorl measuring 1.2 m along the venter and subtending a chord of 1.13 m. The estimate is based on the ultimate whorl height/diameter ratio of "Titanites" occidentalis (about 35%), and assumes a constant rate of expansion. More crude calculations give a circular diameter of 2–2.4 m (best fit of the specimen's outline to a curve yields 2.16 m estimate). |
Eopachydiscus sp. | 1.67 m | Grulke (2014:125) | This specimen, from the Albian Duck Creek Formation of Texas , has been exhibited at the Tucson Fossil Show and in a New York auction. |
Pachydesmoceras cf. pachydiscoide | 1.65 m (estimate) | Kin & Niedźwiedzki (2012:19) | Estimate based on 0.98 m diameter specimen representing an apparently complete phragmocone (previously referred to Lewesiceras peramplum or Parapuzosia). A more complete and therefore larger specimen (1.18 m diameter) consisting of a complete phragmocone and near-complete body chamber is also known (Kin & Niedźwiedzki, 2012:17). |
Lytoceras taharoaense | 1.5 m | Stevens (1978a:3); Stevens (1978b:2); Stevens (1979a:33); Stevens (1979b:6); Stevens (1979c:166); Stevens (1985:153); Grulke (2014:126) | Size based on essentially complete shell with only some damage to the aperture. |
Mesopuzosia mobergi | <1.5 m | Kin & Niedźwiedzki (2012:19) | |
Parapuzosia austeni | <1.5 m | Kin & Niedźwiedzki (2012:19) | Puzosia mayoriana is a synonym. |
Moutoniceras sp. | 1.47 m [heteromorph] | Grulke (2014:126) | In private collection of Wolfgang Grulke, according to whom it is likely the largest heteromorph ammonite ever found (Grulke, 2014:126). Originating from Morocco it is displayed in part of the original rock matrix with sympatric Gassendiceras heteromorphs. Its unrolled shell length would have exceeded 3 m (Grulke, 2014:126). A specimen claimed to be very slightly larger at 1.48 m was auctioned in September 2015 ([Anonymous], 2015a). |
Parapuzosia bosei | 1.45 m | Scott & Moore (1928:276); Lewy (2002:66) | From the Austin Chalk of the Rio Grande region, Texas . The largest known specimen was reported by Scott & Moore (1928:273) to be 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) in diameter and "impossible to extract from its matrix". The authors found "[m]any others only slightly smaller", of which three were collected in 1928 and deposited at Texas Christian University (Scott & Moore, 1928:273–274). |
Parapuzosia americana | 1.37 m (estimate) | Scott & Moore (1928:276) | From the Austin Chalk of the Rio Grande region, Texas . |
"Titanites" occidentalis | 1.37 m | Frebold (1957:66); Westermann (1966) | Size based on specimen consisting of an imprint and part of the last whorl preserved as an internal mould. |
Diplomoceras maximum | >1 m [heteromorph] | Olivero & Zinsmeister (1989) | |
Tropaeum imperator | almost 1 m | Grulke (2014:126) | Largest ammonite known from Australia . Grulke (2014:126) writes: "No exact size is available but it could be almost 1 m across". |
Belemnoidea (belemnoids) | |||
Species | Maximum rostrum measurements | References | Notes |
Megateuthis sp. | 0.7 m TL (Dvms: 30 mm; Dvma: 50 mm) | Schlegelmilch (1998:1); Weis & Mariotti (2007:166); Iba et al. (2015:23–24) | Megateuthis elliptica is "the longest belemnite species known", with rostra from the Humphriesianum Zone in Rumelange and Luxembourg reaching 60–70 cm (Weis & Mariotti, 2007:166). The whole animal is estimated to have been 3–5 m long (Eyden, 2003a). Fuchs and Stinnesbeck (2021) estimated total mantle length of 2.22 m.[155] |
Belemnitina gen. et sp. indet. | ? TL (Dvms: 30 mm; Dvma: ?) | Iba et al. (2015:23) | Known from a single incomplete rostrum (TCSM-J1-0001) from the Pliensbachian Teradani Formation in Teradani, Toyama Prefecture, Japan . The specimen is missing the apical and alveolar regions and comprises only the middle (stem) region of the rostrum. It measures 45 mm in total length by 30 mm and 25 mm across at the anterior and posterior ends, respectively. Iba et al. (2015:23) wrote: "In the Belemnitina, the diameter of the alveolar region is generally larger than those of the apical and stem regions. Thus maximum rostrum diameter of the Teradani specimen is estimated to reach much more than 30 mm." |
Acroteuthis sp. | ? TL (Dvms: 39 mm; Dvma: 42 mm) | Iba et al. (2015:23) | One of "the largest belemnites ever observed", with a rostrum comparable to that of the indeterminate belemnitinid from Teradani. |
Pachyteuthis sp. | ? TL (Dvms: 39 mm; Dvma: 40 mm) | Iba et al. (2015:23) | One of "the largest belemnites ever observed", with a rostrum comparable to that of the indeterminate belemnitinid from Teradani. |
Belemnitina gen. et sp. indet. | ? TL (Dvms: ?; Dvma: >33 mm) | Iba et al. (2015:23) | From the Hettangian Niranohama Formation of northeastern Japan. One of "the largest belemnites ever observed", with a rostrum comparable to but likely slightly smaller than that of the indeterminate belemnitinid from Teradani. |
Nautiloidea (nautiloids) | |||
Species | Maximum shell length | References | Notes |
Endoceras giganteum | 5.733 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | Estimate based on incomplete 3-metre-long shell deposited at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Teichert & Kummel (1960:5) assumed length of 8 m based on body chamber-to-phragmocone ratio of 1:2 and wrote that this was likely "the largest fragment of an endoceroid cephalopod on display anywhere in the world". However, Klug et al. (2015:270) estimated the total length of the complete shell at 5.733 m, with a volume of 158.6 litres. From the Katian of New York (Klug et al., 2015:270). The published literature includes unconfirmed reports of even larger endocerids. Frey (1995) mentioned length of 6 m as maximum size for genus Cameroceras, although this author support theory that some large specimens of Endoceras belong to Cameroceras instead. |
Endoceras proteiforme | 3.0–4.6 m (10–15 ft) | Clarke (1897:778); Teichert & Kummel (1960:1) | Size based on "entire shells" (Clarke, 1897:778). |
Rayonnoceras solidiforme | 2.8 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Visean of Arkansas. Shell volume estimated at 62.5 litres. |
Deiroceras hollardi | 2.6 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the early Emsian of "Jebel Mdouar". Shell volume estimated at 68.3 litres. |
Cameroceras turrisoides | c. 2 m (estimate) | Kröger & Ebbestad (2014) | From the Katian of Sweden. Estimated after maximum diameter (165 mm).[156][157] |
Actinocerida gen. et sp. indet. | 1.911 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Llandovery of Gotland. Shell volume estimated at 8.9 litres. |
Orthocerida gen. et sp. indet. | 1.783 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Ludlow of Gotland. Shell volume estimated at 4.1 litres. |
Ormoceras TUG 1308-1 | 1.72 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Sandbian of Estonia. Shell volume estimated at 2.7 litres. |
Ormoceras giganteum MB.C.11940 | 1.71 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Darriwilian. Shell volume estimated at 2.7 litres. |
Lambeoceras lambii | 1.405 m (estimate) | Leith (1942:130); Teichert & Kummel (1960:4) | Estimate based on incomplete 1.155 m long shell. |
Orthoceras regarium | 1.39 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Wenlock of Joachimsthal.[nb 17] Shell volume estimated at 5.1 litres. |
Temperoceras aequinudum | 1.333 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Lochkovian of "Ouidane Chebbi". Shell volume estimated at 9.2 litres. |
Zeravshanoceras priscum | 1.299 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Eifelian. Shell volume estimated at 1.6 litres. |
Ordogeisonoceras amplicameratum | >1.25 m | Frey (1995:40) | Shell diameter up to 10.5 cm. Originally described as Orthoceras amplicameratum. Orthoceras ludlowense is considered a synonym. |
Cameroceras hennepini | <1.2 m (4 ft) (estimate) | Clarke (1897:779) | Size estimate based on "the most complete of the fragments which represent it". |
Actinoceras vaughanianum | 1.198 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Serpukhovian of Oklahoma. Shell volume estimated at 8.7 litres. |
Polygrammoceras? cf. P. sp. A | 1.13 m (estimate) | Frey (1995:69) | Estimate based on a "single, very large fragment of a phragmocone". Shell diameter to 9.0 cm. |
Plagiostomoceras sp. | 1.1 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Givetian of Onondaga, New York. Shell volume estimated at 0.0052 litres. |
Endoceras decorahense | 1.06 m (estimate; phragmocone only) | Miller & Kummel (1944); Teichert & Kummel (1960:2) | Size estimate based on two portions of an internal mould of the phragmocone, measuring 62.5 cm and 32 cm, with an estimated missing middle section of 11.5 cm. |
Proterovaginoceras incognitum | 1 m (estimate) | Klug et al. (2015:270) | From the Dapingian of Jämtland, Sweden. Shell volume estimated at 0.8 litres. |
Teuthida (squids) | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Yezoteuthis giganteus | ≈1.7 m (estimate) | Tanabe et al. (2006:142) | Size estimate based on preserved upper jaw measuring 97.0 mm in maximum length, similar to that of the largest giant squid (Architeuthis dux). Tanabe et al. (2006:143) wrote that this species "appears to be the largest fossil coleoid ever described". |
Octopodiformes | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Enchoteuthis melanae | up to 2 m (estimate) | Eyden (2003b); Fuchs et al. (2020) | Total length estimated to be up to 3 m. Tusoteuthis longa is likely to be invalid, and largest specimen should belongs to E. melanae.[158] |
Leptotheuthis | 1.3 m (gladius length) | Fuchs and Stinnesbeck (2021) | Reference spells "Leptotheuthis".[155] |
Eromangateuthis soniae | 1.2 m (gladius length) | Fuchs (2019) | Size based on gladius from Queensland, Australia .[159] A second gladius measuring more than a metre and showing possible evidence of predation by Kronosaurus is also known (Eyden, 2003b). |
Trachyteuthis | 0.8 m (gladius length) | Fuchs and Stinnesbeck (2021) | Size given for Early Cretaceous species.[155] |
Nanaimoteuthis hikidai | ≈0.7 m (estimate) | Tanabe et al. (2015) | Estimated from hood length of lower jaw with proportion of vampire squid.[96] Authors also estimated mantle length from fossil vampyromorphs unofficially, resulting ≈1.6 m mantle length.[160] |
Nanaimoteuthis yokotai | ≈0.54 m (estimate) | Tanabe et al. (2010) | Estimated from hood length of lower jaw with proportion of vampire squid.[161] |
Sister group of decapodiformes | |||
Species | Maximum mantle length | References | Notes |
Longibelus matsumotoi (?) | 91.1-98.9 cm (estimate) | Tanabe and Misaki (2023) | Estimated from rostral length of lower jaw, with proportion of Spirula, giant squid and colossal squid.[97] |
Anatomical superlatives
Eyes
The giant and colossal squids have the largest recorded eyes of any living animal, with a maximum diameter of at least 27 cm (11 in) and a 9 cm (3.5 in) pupil.[5] This is three times the size of the largest fish eyes—up to 90 mm (3.5 in) in swordfish—and more than twice the diameter of the largest whale eyes—up to 109 mm (4.3 in), 61 mm (2.4 in), and 55 mm (2.2 in) in blue, humpback, and sperm whales, respectively—which are the largest among vertebrates.[5] A large colossal squid caught in 2014 and dissected at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa had eyes some 35–37 cm (14–15 in) across.[163] There are unconfirmed reports from the 19th century of giant squid eyes up to 40 cm (1.3 ft) across.[164] Only the extinct ichthyosaurs are known to have approached these dimensions,[165] with some species having eyes up to 35 cm (14 in) in diameter.[166]
Despite their size, the eyes of giant and colossal squids do not appear to be disproportionately large; they do not deviate significantly from the allometric relationship seen across other squid species.[167] Sepiolids are noted for having exceptionally large eyes, which are much bigger relative to their mantle length than those of the giant squid; the same is true of Histioteuthis species.[162] Gonatids and the loliginids Loligo and Lolliguncula also have proportionately somewhat larger eyes than Architeuthis.[162] Some sources state that the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) has the largest eyes of any animal relative to its size, with a 15 cm (5.9 in) specimen having eyes around 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in diameter.[168]
There is some debate in the scientific community as to the evolutionary reason behind the extremely large eyes of giant and colossal squids.[169] Nilsson et al. (2012) and Nilsson et al. (2013) argue that it is an anti-predator adaptation for enhanced detection of sperm whales, with the squids picking up plankton bioluminescence triggered by moving whales, perhaps from distances exceeding 120 m (390 ft). Schmitz et al. (2013a) and Schmitz et al. (2013b) contend that their eyes are so large due to a phylogenetically conserved developmental pattern that governs the relative dimensions of squids and their eyes, and that any fitness benefits their size may confer in terms of predator avoidance are the result of exaptation ("pre-adaptation").
Neurons
Squid giant axons can exceed 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter: 100 to 1000 times the thickness of mammalian axons. The axons of the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) are exceptional in that they can reach a diameter of as much as 1.5 mm (0.059 in), and those of Loligo forbesii can also exceed 1 mm.[170] Such was the importance of Humboldt squid to electrophysiology research that when the animals migrated out of reach of Chile an fishermen in the 1970s "it led to the demise of a world-class electrophysiology laboratory" based there.[171] Squid giant axon diameters do not necessarily correlate with overall body size; those of the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) are only 0.137–0.21 mm (0.0054–0.0083 in) thick.[170]
The squid giant synapse is the largest chemical junction in nature. It lies in the stellate ganglion on each side of the midline, at the posterior wall of the squid's muscular mantle. Activation of this synapse triggers a synchronous contraction of the mantle musculature, causing the forceful ejection of a jet of water from the mantle. This water propulsion allows the squid to move rapidly through the water and, in the case of the so-called 'flying squids', even to jump through the surface of the water (breaking the air–water barrier) to escape predators.[172] Many essential elements of how all chemical synapses function were first discovered by studying the squid giant synapse.[173]
Photophores
Taningia danae, a very large octopoteuthid squid, possesses "lemon-sized" yellow photophores at the tips of two of its arms, which are the largest known light-emitting organs in the animal kingdom.[174] Video footage shot in 2005 in deep water off Japan shows T. danae emitting blinding flashes of light from these photophores as it attacks its prey.[175] A pair of muscular lids surrounds each photophore and it is the withdrawal of these lids that produces the flashes. A large individual filmed from a remote submersible off Hawaii in 2015 can clearly be seen opening the lids to reveal its photophores.[176] It is believed that this highly manoeuvrable squid uses bright flashes to disorientate potential prey. The flashes may also serve to illuminate prey for easier capture or play a role in courtship and/or territorial displays.[177]
Reproductive organs
Extreme penis elongation has been observed in the deep water squid Onykia ingens. When erect, the penis may be as long as the mantle, head, and arms combined.[178] As such, deep water squids have the greatest known penis length relative to body size of all mobile animals, second in the entire animal kingdom only to certain sessile barnacles.[179]
See also
- Deep-sea gigantism
- Gigantic octopus
- Largest body parts
- Largest organisms
- Largest prehistoric organisms
- List of colossal squid specimens and sightings
- List of giant squid specimens and sightings
- Smallest organisms
Notes
- ↑ The heaviest scientifically validated cephalopod specimen was a colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) weighing 495 kg (1,091 lb),[1] while hatchlings of Illex illecebrosus—some of the smallest known—have a mass of around 0.00015 g (5.3×10−6 oz).[2] The mass ratio between the two is [math]\displaystyle{ \left ( \frac{495,000}{0.00015} \right ) = 3,300,000,000 }[/math].
Comparing only adult females, the difference between the colossal squid and the pygmy squid Idiosepius thailandicus—which weighs 0.20 g (0.0071 oz) at maturity[3]—would be [math]\displaystyle{ \left ( \frac{495,000}{0.2} \right ) = 2,475,000 }[/math]. - ↑ Wood & O'Dor (2000:93) elaborated on this mass estimate as follows:
There are [...] no published weights of hatchling Nautilus spp. The weight of a hatchling N. belauensis was estimated using hatchling shell size and a regression analysis of the cubed shell diameter versus the weight of seven young N. belauensis that weighed <50 g [1.8 oz] [...] in addition to a single hatchling N. pompilius that was weighed for the present study on 24 April 1996 at the Waikiki Aquarium. The hatchling N. pompilius weighing 4.33 g [0.153 oz], with a maximum shell diameter of 26.25 mm [1.033 in], fit a highly significant correlation [...] between cubed shell diameter and weight, which indicates that a hatchling N. belauensis with a 30 mm [1.2 in] shell diameter [...] would weigh approximately 5.9 g [0.21 oz].
- ↑ Norman et al. (2002:733) wrote: "The most extreme examples of sexual size dimorphism come from marine or parasitic taxa where females are difficult to locate (Ghiselin 1974)."
- ↑ In particular, Scott Cassell mentioned a giant Humboldt squid he named 'Scar' (after the scars on its mantle), whose size he described thus:
</ref>Scar is over seven feet [2.1 m] in length, larger than anyone has ever proven. His body was 3 feet [0.9 m] thick (He's too big to put my arms around him) and I estimated he weight [sic] between 230 and 250 pounds [100–110 kg].[75]
- ↑ Depending on how one defines 'shell-bearing', other extinct contenders could include the aquatic turtles Archelon and Stupendemys (the former having a skeletal framework rather than a solid shell), the tortoise Megalochelys, and the armoured mammal Glyptodon and its relatives.
- ↑ Iwai (1956:139) reported on two small squid (92 and 104 mm ML) recovered from the "digestive canal" of a sperm whale, which he identified as belonging to the genus Architeuthis. Roper & Young (1972:220) showed that this was certainly a misidentification and attributed them instead to the family Psychroteuthidae. In a brief summary of this case, Ellis (1998a:121) gave an erroneous total length of "8 feet" (2.4 m) for the larger of the two specimens (even though in an almost word-for-word identical footnote in Ellis, 1994a:145 he correctly stated the total length was "8 inches" [20 cm]). This mistake was repeated by Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas (2004:67), giving rise to the claim of an implausibly large psychroteuthid "with about three meter total length".
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thomas William Kirk gave the following account of this specimen in his formal description of Architeuthis longimanus:
[...] Early last month Mr. Smith, a local fisherman, brought to the [Colonial] Museum the beak and buccal-mass of a cuttle which had that morning been found lying on the "Big Beach" (Lyall Bay), and he assured us that the creature measured sixty-two feet [18.9 m] in total length. I that afternoon proceeded to the spot and made a careful examination, took notes, measurements, and also obtained a sketch, which, although the terribly heavy rain and driving southerly wind rendered it impossible to do justice to the subject, will, I trust, convey to you some idea of the general outline of this most recently-arrived Devil-fish.
Measurements showed that, although Mr. Smith was over the mark in giving the total length as 62 feet [18.9 m] (probably, not having a measure with him, he only stepped the distance), those figures were not so very far out; for, although the body was in all ways smaller than any of the hitherto-described New Zealand species, the enormous development of the very slight tentacular arms brought the total length up to 55 feet 2 inches [16.81 m], or more than half as long again as the largest species yet recorded from these seas.
The length of the tentacular arms is not a very important character, as they are known to be capable of extension or retraction at the will of the animal, at least to a considerable extent.
[...] This specimen was a female, and to this fact may be due some of the points in which it differs from previous occurrences; but yet they are so considerable that I have no doubt a new subgenus at least will have to be created for its reception. In the meantime I place it under Architeuthis, with the full knowledge, however, that it cannot possibly remain there permanently, the shape of the arms and the fins alone being sufficient to put it out of association with that genus. As soon as opportunity offers, I hope to make a further study and fully determine its affinities.[112]
Kirk (1888:38) provides a table with a detailed breakdown of the specimen's various measurements. There is, however, a discrepancy between the total length of 684 in (17.37 m, or exactly 57 ft) given in the table—which agrees with the individual values of 71 in (1.80 m) for the mantle, 22 in (0.56 m) for the head, and 591 in (15.01 m) for the tentacles—and the total length of 55 ft 2 in (16.81 m) given by Kirk in the body of the article.
Wood (1982:191) suggested that, due to the tentacles' highly retractile nature, the total length of 62 feet (18.9 m) originally reported by the fisherman "may have been correct at the time he found the squid", and that "[t]his probably also explains the discrepancy in Kirk's figures". Owing to its small mantle size, Wood (1982:191) estimated that "this specimen probably weighed less than 300 lb [140 kg]".
O'Shea & Bolstad (2008) opined that the reported total length of 55 ft 2 in (16.81 m) "simply cannot be correct" and attributed it to either "imagination" or artificial lengthening of the tentacles. They added that a female giant squid with a mantle length of 71 in (180 cm) "measured post mortem and relaxed (by modern standards) today would have a total length of ≈32 feet [9.8 m]".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kirk (1880:312) wrote of this specimen:
On 23rd of May last, the Ven. Archdeacon Stock very kindly sent me word that three boys, named Edward R. Stock, and Frank and Walter Morrah, had that morning discovered, at Lyall Bay, what they took to be a very large cuttlefish, with arms several feet long. I lost no time in proceeding to the spot, determined, if possible, to carry home the entire specimen; but judge my surprise when, on reaching the bay, I saw an animal of the size represented in the drawing now before you.* Victor Hugo's account of his "pieuvre" was brought vividly to my mind, and I could not help thinking that a man would stand but a poor chance if he once got within the grasp of such a monster.
My first step after spreading out the arms, was to make a rough sketch and very careful measurements. I then proceeded to extract the so-called skeleton, but found that some person or persons, who had visited the spot earlier than myself, had not been able to resist the temptation to try the temper of their knives upon its back, and had in consequence severed the cuttle-bone in various places. However, I was able, not only to procure all the pieces, but also the beak, tongue, and some of the suckers, only a few of which remained, the greater portion of them having been torn off, either in some fierce encounter, or during the rough weather which had prevailed for some days previously.
The length of body from tip of tail to anterior margin of the mantle was 9 feet 2 inches [2.79 m] and 7 feet 3 inches [2.21 m] in circumference; the head from anterior margin of mantle to roots of arms 1-foot 11 inches [58 cm], making the total length of the body 11 feet 1 inch [3.38 m]. The head measured 4 feet [1.2 m] in circumference. The sessile arms measured 4 feet 3 inches [1.30 m] in length, and 11 inches [28 cm] in circumference; each of these arms bore thirty-six suckers, arranged in two equal rows (as shown by the scars), and measuring from [math]\displaystyle{ \tfrac{13}{16} }[/math] to [math]\displaystyle{ \tfrac{1}{4} }[/math] of an inch [20.6–6.4 mm] in diameter; every sucker was strengthened by a bony ring armed with from forty to sixty sharp incurved teeth. The tentacular arms had been torn off at the length of 6 feet 2 inches [1.88 m], which was probably less than half their original length.
The fins were posterior, and were mere lateral expansions of the mantle, they did not extend over the back as in the case with Onychoteuthis, etc.; each measured 24 inches [61 cm] in length and 13 inches [33 cm] in width.
The cuttle bone, when first extracted, measured 6 feet 3 inches [1.91 m] in length, and 11 inches [28 cm] in width, but has since shrunk considerably; it was broadly lanceolate, with a hollow conical apex 1[math]\displaystyle{ \tfrac{1}{8} }[/math] inch [28.6 mm] deep.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Thimble Tickle specimen, which Addison Emery Verrill referred to as his specimen No. 18,[113] is often cited as the largest recorded giant squid, and has long been treated as such by Guinness.[114]
The Thimble Tickle squid was found aground offshore, alive, on 2 November 1878, near Little Bay Copper Mine, Thimble Tickle, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. It was secured to a tree with a grapnel and rope and died as the tide receded. No part of the animal was retained as it was cut up for dog food. The length of the "body [..] from the beak to the extremity of the tail" (i.e. mantle plus head) was said to be 20 ft (6.1 m), with "one of the arms" (presumably a tentacle) measuring 35 ft (10.7 m), for a total length of 55 ft (16.8 m).[113] Reverend Moses Harvey detailed the encounter in a letter to the Boston Traveller dated 30 January 1879, which was reproduced by Verrill (1880a:191–192):
On the 2d day of November last, Stephen Sherring, a fisherman residing in Thimble Tickle, not far from the locality where the other devil-fish [Verrill specimen No. 19; see Verrill, 1880a:192], was cast ashore, was out in a boat with two other men; not far from the shore they observed some bulky object, and, supposing it might be part of a wreck, they rowed toward it, and, to their horror, found themselves close to a huge fish, having large glassy eyes, which was making desperate efforts to escape, and churning the water into foam by the motion of its immense arms and tail. It was aground and the tide was ebbing. From the funnel at the back of its head it was ejecting large volumes of water, this being its method of moving backward, the force of the stream, by the reaction of the surrounding medium, driving it in the required direction. At times the water from the siphon was black as ink.
Finding the monster partially disabled, the fishermen plucked up courage and ventured near enough to throw the grapnel of their boat, the sharp flukes of which, having barbed points, sunk into the soft body. To the grapnel they had attached a stout rope which they had carried ashore and tied to a tree, so as to prevent the fish from going out with the tide. It was a happy thought, for the devil fish found himself effectually moored to the shore. His struggles were terrific as he flung his ten arms about in dying agony. The fishermen took care to keep a respectful distance from the long tentacles, which ever and anon darted out like great tongues from the central mass. At length it became exhausted, and as the water receded it expired.
The fishermen, alas! knowing no better, proceeded to convert it into dog's meat. It was a splendid specimen—the largest yet taken—the body measuring 20 feet [6.1 m] from the beak to the extremity of the tail. It was thus exactly double the size of the New York specimen [Verrill specimen No. 14; see Verrill, 1880a:189], and five feet [1.5 m] longer than the one taken by [fisherman William] Budgell [No. 19]. The circumference of the body is not stated, but one of the arms measured 35 feet [10.7 m]. This must have been a tentacle.
Such is the fame of the Thimble Tickle specimen that a Giant Squid Interpretation Centre and a "life-sized", 55-foot (17 m) sculpture have been built near the site of its capture.[115] The sculpture appeared on a Canada postage stamp issued in 2011.[116]
- ↑ Romanov et al. (2017) used the following allometric scaling equations to estimate the dorsal mantle length (DML) from the lower rostral length (LRL) of the beak, and total length (TL) from DML:Giant squid beak being measured. Isolated beaks found in the stomachs of predators such as sperm whales can be used to estimate the size of the original animal.[122]
- [math]\displaystyle{ LRL = 11.2 \times log_{10} DML - 19.3 }[/math] (all values in mm)[123]
- [math]\displaystyle{ DML = e^{(-1.168 + 98.031 \times LRL)} }[/math] (all values in m)[124]
- [math]\displaystyle{ TL = 0.006 + 5.117 DML }[/math] (all values in m)[124]
- [math]\displaystyle{ TL = 1.59 \times DML^{1.98} }[/math] (all values in m)[125]
- ↑ Aldrich restated this belief in "Monsters of the Deep", the second episode of the 1980 television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World: "I believe the giant squid reach an approximate maximum size of something like one hundred and fifty feet [46 m]".[135] Richard Ellis, apparently unaware of Aldrich's similar statements in print, commented: "It is difficult to imagine why Aldrich would have made such an irresponsible statement, unless it had to do with being on camera".[136] Arthur C. Clarke himself once remarked: "it would be strange indeed if the world's biggest squid had been among the very few cast ashore to be examined and measured by naturalists. There may well be specimens more than a hundred feet [30 m] in length."[137]
- ↑ An example from the May 2000 issue of Diver magazine reads: "The generally accepted record was of awesome proportions, weighing 272kg and with an arm span of 9.6m."[149]
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ellis (1998a:148–149) wrote of this specimen:
The Russian vessel Novoulianovsk, working in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1984, brought up the remains of a gigantic specimen of Galiteuthis phyllura from a depth of one thousand to thirteen hundred meters (thirty-three hundred to forty-three hundred feet), and Nesis (1985) said that it was "almost as large as Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (of the same family)." Only an arm and a tentacle were collected, but they were so large (the arm was 40 cm long [15.6 inches] and the tentacle 115 cm [45.5 in]) that Nesis was able to estimate the mantle length at 265 to 275 cm (8.69 to 9.02 ft), and the total length at over 4 meters (more than 13 feet). "Because of its narrow body," wrote Nesis, "we conclude that its mass is consistently lower than that of the other large squids."
Roper & Jereb (2010c:165) questioned the validity of this record, writing: "this is considered a doubtful record that might refer to total length; probably the maximum mantle length is less than 400 to 500 mm". But Steve O'Shea commented:
The late, great Kir Nesis was not one to exaggerate, and must have had very good reason to cite a possible mantle length of 2.7m [8.9 ft] for Galiteuthis phyllura. Not only would such a monstrous mantle render this the 'largest species of Galiteuthis', but it would give the species a mantle that was considerably longer than that of Architeuthis, and marginally longer (0.2m [0.66 ft]) than the submature Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis) we reported last year [in 2003].
What amazes me is that the adult has never made the press (that I am aware of). Even if Galiteuthis lacks hooks on the arms it would still be a most frightening squid to bump into in the abyss. (O'Shea, 2004b) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 The taxonomic validity of these Argonauta species is questionable. Finn (2013) and Finn (2014b) recognised only four species in the genus: A. argo (syn. A. cygnus, A. pacificus), A. hians (syn. A. boettgeri), A. nodosus, and A. nouryi (syn. A. cornutus).
- ↑ This record is based on a shell collected in 2001 from the Timor Sea off Indonesia, which was sold in 2003 as a specimen of N. repertus with a diameter of 268 mm (10.6 in). It was subsequently found to measure only around 243 mm (9.6 in) and the discrepancy was put down to an encoding mistake ([Anonymous], 2003a). Another specimen from the same locality, sold around the same time, was claimed to measure 255 mm (10.0 in) ([Anonymous], 2003b).
- ↑ There are two places which bear or have borne the name Joachimsthal: Jáchymov, Czech Republic and Joachimsthal, Brandenburg, Germany. The citation quotes an unpublished report, and it is unclear which one it is referring to. If the report is later than 1945, when the official name of the Czech town was changed, it is most likely the place in Germany.
References
Short citations
- ↑ Rosa et al., 2017:1871
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wood & O'Dor, 2000:93
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Nabhitabhata, 1998:28
- ↑ O'Dor & Hoar, 2000:8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Nilsson et al., 2012:683
- ↑ Smith et al., 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Teichert & Kummel, 1960:6
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Vermeij, 2016
- ↑ Pierce et al., 1995; 2004
- ↑ Gerhardt, 1966:171; Muntz, 1995; Ellis, 1998a:11
- ↑ Salvador & Tomotani, 2014
- ↑ Ley, 1941
- ↑ Lee, 1883; Ellis, 1994b
- ↑ see Garcin & Raynal, 2011; Barrère, 2017
- ↑ Guerra et al., 2011
- ↑ Tratz, 1973; Ellis, 1997a, b
- ↑ Landman & Ellis, 1998; Ablett, 2012
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Roper & Voss, 1983:58
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:106; Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:62
- ↑ Roper & Voss, 1983:55
- ↑ see Arkhipkin et al., 2015
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008
- ↑ Roper & Young, 1972:205
- ↑ Clarke, 1996:1105; O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008
- ↑ see Clarke, 1962; Wolff, 1981; 1984; Gröger et al., 2000; Staudinger et al., 2009; Potier et al., 2011
- ↑ Clarke, 1986:11
- ↑ Zeidberg, 2004:4195; Phillips, 2004:ii
- ↑ Nabhitabhata, 1998:32
- ↑ O'Dor et al., 1986:59; Wood & O'Dor, 2000:93
- ↑ Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:88
- ↑ Grulke, 2014:105
- ↑ Rowlett, Joe (2017-10-06). "Meet The World's Smallest & Weirdest Squid, Idiosepius". Reefs.com. https://reefs.com/2017/10/06/meet-worlds-smallest-weirdest-squid-idiosepius/.
- ↑ Boletzky, 2003:19
- ↑ Boletzky, 1999:24; 2003:20; Norman et al., 2002:733
- ↑ Norman et al., 2002:733; Fairbairn, 2007:3
- ↑ Norman et al., 2002:733
- ↑ see Kennedy & Cobban, 1990
- ↑ Nishiguchi, M.K., R. Mapes (2008). "Cephalopoda". University of California Press. pp. 163–199. https://bobtailsquid.ink/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Nish2008_Book_PhylEvolMolusca_Cephlopoda.pdf.
- ↑ Rosa & Seibel, 2010; McClain et al., 2015; Rosa et al., 2017
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 40.5 40.6 McClain et al., 2015
- ↑ Collins et al., 2001; Collins & Villanueva, 2006:294
- ↑ Voss, 1988; Vecchione et al., 2008
- ↑ see Teichert & Kummel, 1960; Stevens, 1988; Eyden, 2003b; Larson, 2010; Iba et al., 2015
- ↑ O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ Lovis, 2011
- ↑ [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ O'Shea, 2003c
- ↑ Ellis, 1998b; Paxton, 2016a; Bittel, 2016; Romanov et al., 2017
- ↑ 52.0 52.1 Paxton, 2016a
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 Kubodera et al., 2016
- ↑ see Holroyd, 2005
- ↑ Cerullo & Roper, 2012:22
- ↑ 56.0 56.1 O'Shea, 2003a
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Roper & Shea, 2013:113
- ↑ Bittel, 2016
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 Greshko, 2016
- ↑ Deagle et al., 2005
- ↑ Hofilena, 2014
- ↑ [Anonymous], 2000; Wong, 2000
- ↑ Vecchione et al., 2010
- ↑ see Bolstad, 2008; 2010
- ↑ Norman, 2000:174; Bolstad, 2008:107; Okutani, 2015b
- ↑ Roper et al., 1984; Roper & Jereb, 2010i:364; Okutani, 2015b
- ↑ see Dall, 1873; Verrill, 1876; Phillips, 1933; Croker, 1934; Phillips, 1961; Smith, 1963
- ↑ Hoff, 2003:90
- ↑ Nigmatullin et al., 2001; Roper et al., 2010b:301
- ↑ Wormuth, 1976:38; Norman, 2000:165; Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:54
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 Roper et al., 2010b:301
- ↑ Clarke, 1966:117; Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:59
- ↑ Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004:59
- ↑ Nigmatullin et al., 2001:10; Roper et al., 2010b:301
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 Cassell, 2005
- ↑ 76.0 76.1 Lynnes & Rodhouse, 2002:1087; see also Carrington, 2000
- ↑ Bolstad, 2008:171
- ↑ Guerra & Segonzac, 2014:65
- ↑ Cosgrove, 1987
- ↑ Norman, 2000:214; Norman et al., 2014:124
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:67–69
- ↑ 82.0 82.1 Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71
- ↑ Anderson, 2003:3; Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71; Yong, 2015
- ↑ O'Shea, 2002:1; 2004a:9; Finn, 2014a:227
- ↑ O'Shea, 2004a:9
- ↑ Landois, 1895:108
- ↑ Carnall, 2017
- ↑ Kennedy & Kaplan, 1995:21
- ↑ Landois, 1895:100
- ↑ Beer, 2015
- ↑ [Anonymous], N.d.; [Anonymous], 2008
- ↑ Teichert & Kummel, 1960:2
- ↑ Flower, 1955:329
- ↑ Landois, 1898:27
- ↑ Grulke, 2014:124
- ↑ 96.0 96.1 Tanabe, Kazushige; Misaki, Akihiro; Ubukata, Takao (2014). "Late Cretaceous record of large soft-bodied coleoids based on lower jaw remains from Hokkaido, Japan" (in en). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00052.2013. ISSN 0567-7920. http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.00052.2013.
- ↑ 97.0 97.1 Tanabe, Kazushige; Misaki, Akihiro (2023-06-20). "Upper Cretaceous record of non-belemnitid coleoid jaws from Hokkaido, Japan, and its evolutionary implications" (in en). Cretaceous Research 151: 105624. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105624. ISSN 0195-6671. Bibcode: 2023CrRes.15105624T. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667123001520.
- ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 98.3 Ellis, 1998a:211
- ↑ see Ellis, 1998a; Salcedo-Vargas, 1999; Glaubrecht & Salcedo-Vargas, 2004
- ↑ Robson, 1933:681; see for example Mitsukuri & Ikeda, 1895; Meek & Goddard, 1926; Clarke & Robson, 1929; Phillips, 1933; Croker, 1934; Rees, 1950; Smith, 1963; Nesis, 1970
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:211; Norman, 2000:174
- ↑ Poppe & Goto, 1993
- ↑ Kubodera & Mori, 2005; Kubodera, 2010:25
- ↑ [Anonymous], 2007; Kubodera, 2010:38
- ↑ [Anonymous], 2013; [NHK], 2013c
- ↑ Baird, 2002
- ↑ [Anonymous], 2002a; O'Shea, 2003d
- ↑ e.g. Guerra et al., 2018
- ↑ Coe, 1929:36; G.E. Verrill, 1958:69; see Verrill 1874a, b; 1875a, b, c; 1876; 1877; 1878; 1880a, b; 1881a, b; 1882a
- ↑ O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008; Dery, 2013; Yong, 2015
- ↑ see Hansford, 2009
- ↑ Kirk, 1888:35–36
- ↑ 113.0 113.1 Verrill, 1880a:191; Verrill, 1880b:285
- ↑ see Wood, 1982:189; Carwardine, 1995:240; Glenday, 2014:62
- ↑ Hickey, 2009
- ↑ Hickey, 2010; [Anonymous], N.d.
- ↑ Paxton, 2016a:86
- ↑ Murray, 1874:121
- ↑ 119.0 119.1 119.2 119.3 Romanov et al., 2017
- ↑ Paxton, 2016a:83
- ↑ see Murray, 1874; Verrill, 1875a; Verrill, 1875b
- ↑ see Roeleveld, 2000; Cherel, 2003; Romanov et al., 2017
- ↑ Roeleveld, 2000:185
- ↑ 124.0 124.1 Paxton, 2016a:85
- ↑ McClain et al., 2015:Table 2
- ↑ see Sanderson, 1956; Heuvelmans, 1958; Ley, 1959
- ↑ Roper & Boss, 1982:97
- ↑ Wood, 1982:193
- ↑ Roper & Boss, 1982:99; Wood, 1982:192; Haszprunar & Wanninger, 2012:R510
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:143
- ↑ see Ellis, 1998a:142
- ↑ Matthews, 1938
- ↑ Ley, 1959:210
- ↑ 134.0 134.1 Aldrich, 1980:59
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:6–7
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:7
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:6
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:142
- ↑ see Feldman, 1999 for more on this specimen
- ↑ O'Shea, 2003a; Roper & Jereb, 2010a:121
- ↑ Alexander, 1998:1233
- ↑ 142.0 142.1 Ellis, 1998a:106
- ↑ MacGinitie & MacGinitie, 1949
- ↑ MacGinitie & MacGinitie, 1968; Wood, 1982:190
- ↑ Heuvelmans, 1958
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:107
- ↑ Dall, 1885:432
- ↑ Newman, 1994:66
- ↑ Bavendam, 2000:63–64
- ↑ Newman, 1994:66; Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:66–67
- ↑ Anderson, 2003:2; Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71
- ↑ Anderson, 2003:3; Cosgrove & McDaniel, 2009:71; Scheel & Anderson, 2012
- ↑ Anderson, 2003:2
- ↑ Ifrim, Christina; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang; González, Arturo H. González; Schorndorf, Nils; Gale, Andrew S. (2021-11-10). "Ontogeny, evolution and palaeogeographic distribution of the world's largest ammonite Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis (Landois, 1895)" (in en). PLOS ONE 16 (11): e0258510. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0258510. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 34758037. Bibcode: 2021PLoSO..1658510I.
- ↑ 155.0 155.1 155.2 Fuchs, Dirk; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang (2021-11-01). "Large-sized gladius-bearing octobrachians (coleoid cephalopods) in the Turonian plattenkalk of Vallecillo, Mexico" (in en). Cretaceous Research 127: 104949. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104949. ISSN 0195-6671. Bibcode: 2021CrRes.12704949F. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566712100197X.
- ↑ Kröger, Björn (2013-03-27). "The cephalopods of the Boda Limestone, Late Ordovician, of Dalarna, Sweden". European Journal of Taxonomy (41). doi:10.5852/ejt.2013.41. ISSN 2118-9773. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2013.41.
- ↑ Kröger, Björn; Ebbestad, Jan Ove R. (2014). "Palaeoecology and palaeogeography of Late Ordovician (Katian–Hirnantian) cephalopods of the Boda Limestone, Siljan district, Sweden". Lethaia 47 (1): 15–30. doi:10.1111/let.12034. ISSN 0024-1164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/let.12034.
- ↑ Fuchs, Dirk; Iba, Yasuhiro; Heyng, Alexander; Iijima, Masaya; Klug, Christian; Larson, Neal L.; Schweigert, Günter (2020). Brayard, Arnaud. ed. "The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods" (in en). Papers in Palaeontology 6 (1): 31–92. doi:10.1002/spp2.1254. ISSN 2056-2802. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1254.
- ↑ Fuchs, Dirk (2019-10-08). "Eromangateuthis n. gen., a new genus for a late Albian gladius-bearing giant octobrachian (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea)" (in en). Paleontological Contributions. doi:10.17161/1808.29619. ISSN 1946-0279. https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/29619.
- ↑ Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History & Human History (2015-03-05). "史上最大級のイカ類とタコ類の化石発見". https://hugepdf.com/download/5b381ebc88239_pdf#.
- ↑ Tanabe, Kazushige; Hikida, Yoshinori (2010). "Jaws of a New Species ofNanaimoteuthis(Coleoidea: Vampyromorphida) from the Tuironian of Hokkaido, Japan". Paleontological Research 14 (2): 145–150. doi:10.2517/1342-8144-14.2.145. ISSN 1342-8144. http://dx.doi.org/10.2517/1342-8144-14.2.145.
- ↑ 162.0 162.1 162.2 Schmitz et al., 2013a
- ↑ Farquhar, 2014; [Te Papa], 2014
- ↑ Land & Nilsson, 2012:86
- ↑ Motani et al., 1999; Humphries & Ruxton, 2002
- ↑ Nilsson et al., 2012:687
- ↑ Schmitz et al., 2013a:45
- ↑ Ellis, 1996:177; [Anonymous], 2005a; though see Young et al., 2015
- ↑ Partridge, 2012
- ↑ 170.0 170.1 Adelman & Gilbert, 1990:102
- ↑ Scully, 2008
- ↑ Arata, 1954; Murata, 1988; Maciá et al., 2004; Muramatsu et al., 2013; O'Dor et al., 2013
- ↑ see Llinás, 1999
- ↑ Ellis, 1998a:149; Barrat, 2015
- ↑ see Kubodera et al., 2006
- ↑ see Barrat, 2015
- ↑ Kubodera et al., 2006:1033
- ↑ Arkhipkin & Laptikhovsky, 2010:299; Walker, 2010
- ↑ Arkhipkin & Laptikhovsky, 2010:300
Full citations
- [Anonymous] (1896). Big octopus on the beach. The Florida Times-Union, 1 December 1896. p. 3.
- [Anonymous] (1934). A giant squid. The Scotsman, 27 January 1934. p. 15.
- [Anonymous] (2000). Giant Deep-Sea Creature Amazes Spanish Scientists. Reuters, 3 November 2000. [Archived from the original on 1 December 2000.]
- [Anonymous] (2002a). 巨大イカ現れる !! Kyoto Prefecture Web Site, 1 February 2002. [Archived from the original on 12 June 2002.] (in Japanese)
- [Anonymous] (2002b). Tuning in to a deep sea monster. CNN, 13 June 2002. [Archived from the original on 13 July 2005.]
- [Anonymous] (2003a). Nautilus repertus ID:118764. Shell Encyclopedia, Conchology, Inc.
- [Anonymous] (2003b). Nautilus repertus ID:118763. Shell Encyclopedia, Conchology, Inc.
- [Anonymous] (2003c). Spirula spirula ID:126690. Shell Encyclopedia, Conchology, Inc.
- [Anonymous] (2003d). Giant squid 'attacks French boat'. BBC News, 15 January 2003.
- [Anonymous] (2003e). Giant blob baffles marine scientists. BBC News, 2 July 2003.
- [Anonymous] (2003f). Chilean blob could be octopus. BBC News, 3 July 2003.
- [Anonymous] (2005a). Largest eye-to-body ratio. Guinness World Records, 19 January 2005.
- [Anonymous] (2005b). Very Rare Giant Squid Caught Alive. South Georgia Newsletter, June 2005. [Archived from the original on 16 February 2007.]
- [Anonymous] (2006). Spirula spirula ID:306458. Shell Encyclopedia, Conchology, Inc.
- [Anonymous] (2007). Giant squid caught on video by Japanese scientists. Reuters, 21 January 2007.
- [Anonymous] (2008). The Largest Ammonite In the World. Page 4. The Octopus News Magazine Online Forums.
- [Anonymous] (2010). The Undersea Voyager Project – Board of Directors. The Undersea Voyager Project. [Archived from the original on 24 December 2011.]
- [Anonymous] (2013). The Giant Squid, Captured on Camera in its Natural Habitat for the First Time Ever! NHK, 9 January 2013. [Archived from the original on 23 January 2013.]
- [Anonymous] (2015a). Ammonites - Moutoniceras moutonianum and Gassendiceras quelquejeui - 148 cm. Catawiki, 20 September 2015.
- [Anonymous] (2015b). Seven-foot squid caught off Kona coast. KHON2, 1 October 2015.
- [Anonymous] (2016). New York monument honors victims of giant octopus attack that never occurred. The Guardian , 1 October 2016.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). Humboldt Squid, Giant Squid, Giant Humboldt Squid, Calamar Gigante, Rojo Diablo (Dosidicus gigas). MexFish.com.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). Captain Scott Cassell. Explore Green. [Archived from the original on 27 April 2015.]
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). How big is the colossal squid? Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). The body of the colossal squid. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). The beak of the colossal squid. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). The arms and tentacles. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- [Anonymous] (N.d.). The Giant Squid. Canadian Postage Stamps.
- Ablett, J. (2012). The giant squid, Architeuthis dux Steenstrup, 1857 (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): the making of an iconic specimen. NatSCA News no. 23: 16–20.
- Adelman, W.J. & D.L. Gilbert (1990). Electrophysiology and Biophysics of the Squid Giant Axon. In: D.L. Gilbert, W.J. Adelman & J.M. Arnold (eds.) Squid as Experimental Animals. Plenum Press, New York. pp. 93–132. ISBN:0306435136.
- Akimushkin, I.I. (1963). Головоногие моллюски морей СССР. [Golovonogie Mollyuski Morei SSSR.] Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Institute of Oceanology, Moscow. 235 pp. (in Russian) [English translation by A. Mercado: Akimushkin, I.I. (1965).Cephalopods of the Seas of the U.S.S.R. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem. 223 pp.]
- Aldrich, F.A. (1980). The source of the sea bishop. [pp. 55–64] In: K.S. Goldstein & N.V. Rosenburg (eds.) Folklore Studies in Honour of Herbert Halpert: A Festschrift. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's. ix + 395 pp. ISBN:0-88901-019-6.
- Aldrich, F.A. (1991). Some aspects of the systematics and biology of squid of the genus Architeuthis based on a study of specimens from Newfoundland waters. Bulletin of Marine Science 49(1–2): 457–481.
- Alexander, R.M. (1998). All-time giants: the largest animals and their problems. Palaeontology 41(6): 1231–1245.
- Allan, J. (1955a). The Kraken—legendary terror of the seas. The Australian Museum Magazine 11(9): 275–278.
- Allan, J. (1955b). More about the Kraken. The Australian Museum Magazine 11(11): 372.
- Anderson, R.C. (1996a). Octopus encounter at Slant Rock. Of Sea and Shore 18(4): 203–204.
- Anderson, R.C. (1996b). What does a giant Pacific octopus eat? Of Sea and Shore 18(4): 221–222.
- Anderson, R.C. (2003). A preliminary report on bioaccumulation in octopuses (Enteroctopus dofleini). In: T.W. Droscher & D.A. Fraser (eds.) Proceedings of the 2003 Georgia Basin/Puget Sound Research Conference. Puget Sound Partnership, Olympia. 5 pp.
- Anderson, R.C. & R.L. Shimek (2014). Octopuses have a fowl diet. American Malacological Bulletin 32(2): 220–222. doi:10.4003/006.032.0213
- Anderton, J. (2007). World's largest squid landed in NZ. The official website of the New Zealand Government. [Archived from the original on 2 May 2008.]
- Arata, G.F. (1954). A note on the flying behavior of certain squids. The Nautilus 68(1): 1–3.
- Aristotle (c. 350 BC). Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν. [History of Animals]. 9 books.
- Arkhipkin, A.I. & V.V. Laptikhovsky (2010). Observation of penis elongation in Onykia ingens: implications for spermatophore transfer in deep-water squid. Journal of Molluscan Studies 76(3): 299–300. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyq019
- Arkhipkin, A., R. Weis, N. Mariotti & Z. Shcherbich (2015). 'Tailed' cephalopods. Journal of Molluscan Studies 81(3): 345–355. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyu094
- Baird, G. (2002). Chasing Giants: On the Trail of the Giant Squid. NIWA Science, 28 February 2002. [Archived from the original on 19 January 2008.]
- Balini, M., J.F. Jenks, R. Martin, C.A. McRoberts, M.J. Orchard & N.J. Silberling (2015). The Carnian/Norian boundary succession at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park (Upper Triassic, central Nevada, USA). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 89(3): 399–433. doi:10.1007/s12542-014-0244-2
- Barbier, J.P., P. Quiquandon & O. Santini (N.d.). Registry of World Record Size Shells. Shells Passion. [Continuously updated; database queried on 25 March 2020.]
- Barrat, J. (2015). Rare squid T. danae captured in new video. Smithsonian Science News, 9 December 2015.
- Barrère, F. (2017). Une espèce animale à l'épreuve de l'image: Essai sur le calmar géant. Nouvelle édition revue et augmentée. Éditions L'Harmattan, Paris. 300 pp. ISBN:2-14-004283-2. (in French)
- Bavendam, F. (2000). Wrestling with the devil fish. Diver, May 2000. pp. 62–67.
- Beale, T. (1839). The Natural History of the Sperm Whale. To which is added, a sketch of a South-Sea whaling voyage; embracing a description of the extent, as well as the adventures and accidents that occurred during the voyage in which the author was personally engaged. John Van Voorst, London. xii + 393 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.110064
- Beer, M. (2015). Koloss aus der Kreidezeit: Der größte Ammonit der Welt wurde vor 120 Jahren in Seppenrade entdeckt. Westfälische Nachrichten, 22 February 2015. (in German)
- Bert, D., S. Bersac, J. Juárez-Ruiz & Z. Hughes (2017). Size reduction and ornamental oscillation within a Barremian lineage of giant heteromorphic ammonites (Early Cretaceous, northwestern Tethyan margin). Cretaceous Research, published online on 3 February 2017. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.02.001
- Berzin, A.A. (1971). Кашалот. [Kashalot.] Pacific Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow. 368 pp. (in Russian) [English translation by E. Hoz and Z. Blake: Berzin, A.A. (1972). The Sperm Whale. Israel Program for Scientific Translation, Jerusalem. v + 394 pp. ISBN:0-7065-1262-6.]
- Bille, M.A. (1995). Requiem for the giant octopus? Exotic Zoology: The Bimonthly Magazine of Cryptozoology 2(4): 3–4.
- Biró-Bagóczky, L. (1976). Titanites chilensis n. sp. en la Formación Lo Valdés, Titoniano–Neocominao, Provincia de Santiago, Chile. [pp. L11–L19] In: [Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Chile] Actas Primer Congreso Geológico Chileno: 2–7 Agosto de 1976, Santiago, Chile. Tomo III. University of Chile, Santiago. (in Spanish)
- Bittel, J. (2016). How big is big and other mysteries about the glorious, blue-blooded giant squid. Earth Touch News Network, 20 June 2016.
- Boletzky, S.v. (1987). On egg capsule dimensions in Loligo forbesi (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): a note. Vie et Milieu 37(3–4): 187–192.
- Boletzky, S.v. (1997). Developmental constraints and heterochrony: a new look at offspring size in cephalopod molluscs. Geobios 30(supplement 2): 267–275. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(97)80102-7
- Boletzky, S.v. (1999). Dwarf cephalopods: conditions of reproduction at small size. Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt 46: 24.
- Boletzky, S.v. (2002). How small is "very small" in coleoid cephalopods? Berliner Paläobiologische Abhandlungen 1: 14–15.
- Boletzky, S.v. (2003). A lower limit to adult size in coleoid cephalopods: elements of a discussion. Berliner Paläobiologische Abhandlungen 3: 19–28.
- Bolstad, K.S.R. (2003). Deep-Sea Cephalopods: An Introduction and Overview. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
- Bolstad, K.S.R. (2008). Systematics of the Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847 (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Ph.D. thesis, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland.
- Bolstad, K.S.R. (2010). Systematics of the Onychoteuthidae Gray, 1847 (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Zootaxa 2696: 1–186. [preview]
- Bright, M. (1989). There are Giants in the Sea: Monsters and Mysteries of the Depths Explored. Robson Books, London. 224 pp. ISBN:0-86051-481-1.
- Broad, W.J. (2004). Ogre? Octopus? Blobologists Solve An Ancient Mystery. The New York Times, 27 July 2004.
- Buel, J.W. (1887). Horrible monsters of the deep. [pp. 68–84] In: Sea and Land. An illustrated history of the wonderful and curious things of nature existing before and since the deluge. Historical Publishing Company, Philadelphia. 800 pp.
- Bullen, F.T. (1898). [1906]. Which treats of the Kraken. [pp. 139–148] In: The Cruise of the Cachalot: Round the World after Sperm Whales. D. Appleton and Company, New York. xx + 379 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.35756
- Caillois, R. (1973). La pieuvre: essai sur la logique de l'imaginaire. La Table Ronde, Paris. 231 pp. (in French)
- Carnall, M. (2017). Searching for the Old Ones: Lovecraftian giant cephalopods and the fossil record. The Guardian , 31 October 2017.
- Carr, S.M., H.D. Marshall, K.A. Johnstone, L.M. Pynn & G.B. Stenson (2002). How to tell a sea monster: molecular discrimination of large marine animals of the North Atlantic. The Biological Bulletin 202(1): 1–5. doi:10.2307/1543217
- Carrington, D. (2000). Big squid breaks record. BBC News, 3 July 2000.
- Carwardine, M. (1995). The Guinness Book of Animal Records. Guinness Publishing, Enfield. 256 pp. ISBN:0-85112-658-8.
- Cassell, S. (2005). Dancing with Demons – The Giant Humboldt Squid. DeeperBlue, 15 December 2005.
- Cassell, S. (2007). Monster Quest: The Giant Squid-Found / Scott Cassell's Blog. ScubaBoard, 20 November 2007.
- Cerullo, M.M. & C.F.E. Roper (2012). Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monster. Capstone Press, North Mankato. 48 pp. ISBN:1429680237.
- Cherel, Y. (2003). New records of the giant squid Architeuthis dux in the southern Indian Ocean. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83(6): 1295–1296.
- Chotiyaputta, C., T. Okutani & S. Chaitiamvong (1991). A new pygmy cuttlefish from the Gulf of Thailand Idiosepius thailandicus n. sp. (Cephalopoda: Idiosepiidae). Venus, the Japanese Journal of Malacology 50(3): 165–174. NAID 40000387379
- Clarke, A., M.R. Clarke, L.J. Holmes & T.D. Waters (1985). Calorific values and elemental analysis of eleven species of oceanic squids (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 65(4): 983–986. doi:10.1017/S0025315400019457
- Clarke, J.M. (1897). The Lower Silurian Cephalopoda of Minnesota. In: E.O. Ulrich, J.M. Clarke, W.H. Scofield & N.H. Winchell The Geology of Minnesota. Vol. III, Part II, of the final report. Paleontology. Harrison & Smith, Minneapolis. pp. 761–812.
- Clarke, M.R. (1962). The identification of cephalopod "beaks" and the relationship between beak size and total body weight. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 8(10): 419–480.
- Clarke, M.R. (1966). A review of the systematics and ecology of oceanic squids. Advances in Marine Biology 4: 91–300. doi:10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60314-4
- Clarke, M.R. (1980). Cephalopoda in the diet of sperm whales of the southern hemisphere and their bearing on sperm whale biology. Discovery Reports 37: 1–324.
- Clarke, M.R. (1986). A Handbook for the Identification of Cephalopod Beaks. Oxford University Press, Oxford. xiii + 273 pp. ISBN:0-19-857603-X.
- Clarke, M.R. (1996). The role of cephalopods in the world's oceans: general conclusions and the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 351(1343): 1105–1112. doi:10.1098/rstb.1996.0096
- Clarke, M.R. & N. Goodall (1994). Cephalopods in the diets of three odontocete cetacean species stranded at Tierra del Fuego, Globicephala melaena (Traill, 1809), Hyperoodon planifrons Flower, 1882 and Cephalorhynchus commersonii (Lacepede, 1804). Antarctic Science 6(2): 149–154. doi:10.1017/S0954102094000234
- Clarke, R. (1955). A giant squid swallowed by a sperm whale. Norsk Hvalfangst-Tidende (The Norwegian Whaling Gazette) 44(10): 589–593.
- Clarke, R. (1956). Sperm whales of the Azores. Discovery Report 28: 237–298.
- Clarke, W.J. & G.C. Robson (1929). Notes on the stranding of giant squids on the north-east coast of England[|permanent dead link|dead link}}] . Proceedings of the Malacological Society 18(4): 154–158.
- Coe, W.R. (1929). Biographical memoir of Addison Emery Verrill, 1839–1926. National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Biographical Memoirs 14(2): 19–66.
- Collins, M.A., M. O'Dea & C. Henriques (2001). A large Cirroteuthis magna (Cephalopoda: Cirroctopoda) caught on the Cape Verde Terrace (North Atlantic). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81(2): 357–358. doi:10.1017/S0025315401003915
- Collins, M.A. & R. Villanueva (2006). Taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of the cirrate octopods. [pp. 277–322] In: R.N. Gibson, R.J.A. Atkinson & J.D.M. Gordon (eds.) Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, Volume 44. CRC Press, Boca Raton. 536 pp. ISBN:1-4200-0639-8.
- Colwell, M. (2015). Our deep need for monsters that lurk in the dark. BBC News, 23 June 2015.
- Cosgrove, J.A. (1987). Aspects of the natural history of Octopus dofleini, the giant Pacific octopus. M.Sc. thesis. Department of Biology, University of Victoria (Canada). 101 pp.
- Cosgrove, J.A. & N. McDaniel (2009). Super Suckers: The Giant Pacific Octopus and Other Cephalopods of the Pacific Coast. Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park. ISBN:1550174665.
- Costantino, G. (2014a). Release the Kraken! Biodiversity Heritage Library Blog, 30 October 2014.
- Costantino, G. (2014b). The Octopus...The Monster that Isn't. Biodiversity Heritage Library Blog, 30 October 2014.
- Croker, R.S. (1934). Giant squid taken at Laguna Beach. California Fish and Game 20(3): 297.
- Dall, W.H. (1873). Aleutian cephalopods. The American Naturalist 7(8): 484–485.
- Dall, W.H. (1885). The arms of the octopus, or devil fish. Science 6(145): 432. doi:10.1126/science.ns-6.145.432
- Daniel, R.J. (1925). Animal Life in the Sea. Hodder & Stoughton, London. 119 pp.
- Deagle, B.E., S.N. Jarman, D. Pemberton & N.J. Gales (2005). Genetic screening for prey in the gut contents from a giant squid (Architeuthis sp.). Journal of Heredity 96(4): 417–423. doi:10.1093/jhered/esi036
- Dell, R.K. (1952). The Recent Cephalopoda of New Zealand. Dominion Museum Bulletin 16: 1–157.
- de Montfort, P.D. (1801). Le Poulpe Colossal. [pp. 256–412] In: Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des mollusques, animaux sans vertèbres et a sang blanc. Ouvrage faisant suite aux œuvres de Leclerc de Buffon, et partie du cours complet d'histoire naturelle rédigé par C. S. Sonnini, membre de plusieurs sociétés savantes. Tome Second. L'Imprimerie de F. Dufart, Paris. 424 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51804 (in French)
- Dery, M. (2013). The Kraken Wakes: What Architeuthis is Trying to Tell Us. Boing Boing, 28 January 2013.
- Dommergues, J.-L., S. Montuire & P. Neige (2002). Size patterns through time: the case of the Early Jurassic ammonite radiation. Paleobiology 28(4): 423–434. JSTOR 3595493
- Doukan, G. (1957). The Habits of the Octopus. [pp. 67–70] In: Doukan, G. The World Beneath the Waves. John De Graff, New York. 356 pp.
- Dozier, T.A. (1976). Dangerous Sea Creatures. Time-Life Television, New York. 128 pp. ISBN:0-913948-04-7.
- Dunstan, A.J., P.D. Ward & N.J. Marshall (2011). Nautilus pompilius life history and demographics at the Osprey Reef Seamount, Coral Sea, Australia. PLoS ONE 6(2): e16312. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016312
- Ellis, R. (1994a). Monsters of the Sea. Robert Hale, London. xiii + 429 pp. ISBN:0-7090-5634-6.
- Ellis, R. (1994b). Architeuthis—the giant squid: a true explanation for some sea serpents. The Log of Mystic Seaport 46(2): 34–40.
- Ellis, R. (1996). Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. Knopf, New York. 395 pp. ISBN:0679433244.
- Ellis, R. (1997a). The models of Architeuthis. Curator: The Museum Journal 40(1): 30–55. doi:10.1111/j.2151-6952.1997.tb01120.x
- Ellis, R. (1997b). The real Architeuthis—still unseen, but one more model. Curator: The Museum Journal 40(3): 176–177. doi:10.1111/j.2151-6952.1997.tb01301.x
- Ellis, R. (1998a). The Search for the Giant Squid. Lyons Press, London. 322 pp. ISBN:1-55821-689-8.
- Ellis, R. (1998b). How big does the giant squid get? The Cryptozoology Review 3(1): 11–19.
- Evon, D. (2016a). Kraken Rocken: Reports of the possible spotting of a kraken near Antarctica actually show a very large rock. Snopes.com, 20 June 2016.
- Evon, D. (2016b). Lies a Beach: A video purporting to show a 50-foot-long squid beached in Punakaiki, New Zealand is a hoax. Snopes.com, 1 December 2016.
- Evon, D. (2017). A Giant Squid Carcass was Found in Indonesia? Photographs that purportedly show a giant squid carcass that washed up on an Indonesia beach actually show a dead whale. Snopes.com, 12 May 2017.
- Eyden, P. (2003a). Belemnites: A Quick Look. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
- Eyden, P. (2003b). Tusoteuthis and the Cretaceous Giant Squids. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
- Fairbairn, D.J. (2007). Introduction: the enigma of sexual size dimorphism. In: D.J. Fairbairn, W.U. Blanckenhorn & T. Székely (eds.) Sex, Size and Gender Roles: Evolutionary Studies of Sexual Size Dimorphism. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 1–10. ISBN:0199545588. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208784.003.0001
- Farquhar, P. (2014). Scientists Found Only The Second Intact Colossal Squid — Here's What It Looks Like. Business Insider Australia, 16 September 2014.
- Feldman, G.C. (1999). 20 February: Eight Arms to Hold You. In: I. Roper, G.C. Feldman, C.F.E. Roper, B. Brennan, D. Tracey, S. O'Shea & M.V. deGruy (1999). In Search of Giant Squid: New Zealand – 1999: Expedition Journals. Smithsonian Natural History Web Home Page. [Archived from the original on 8 October 1999.]
- Finn, J.K. (2013). Taxonomy and biology of the argonauts (Cephalopoda: Argonautidae) with particular reference to Australian material. Molluscan Research 33(3): 143–222. doi:10.1080/13235818.2013.824854
- Finn, J.K. (2014a). Family Alloposidae. In: P. Jereb, C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman & J.K. Finn (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cephalopod species known to date. Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 3. FAO, Rome. pp. 225–228.
- Finn, J.K. (2014b). Family Argonautidae. In: P. Jereb, C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman & J.K. Finn (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cephalopod species known to date. Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 3. FAO, Rome. pp. 228–237.
- Flower, R.H. (1955). Status of endoceroid classification. Journal of Paleontology 29(3): 329–371. JSTOR 1300321
- Förch, E.C. (1998). The marine fauna of New Zealand: Cephalopoda: Oegopsida: Architeuthidae (giant squid). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 110: 1–113. ISBN:0-478-08447-1.
- France, R.L. (2016a). Reinterpreting nineteenth-century accounts of whales battling 'sea serpents' as an illation of early entanglement in pre-plastic fishing gear or maritime debris. The International Journal of Maritime History 28(4): 686–714. doi:10.1177/0843871416667434
- France, R.L. (2016b). Historicity of sea turtles misidentified as sea monsters: a case for the early entanglement of marine chelonians in pre-plastic fishing nets and maritime debris. Coriolis 6(2): 1–25.
- France, R.L. (2017). Imaginary sea monsters and real environmental threats: reconsidering the famous Osborne, 'Moha-moha', Valhalla, and 'Soay beast' sightings of unidentified marine objects. International Review of Environmental History 3(1): 63–100. doi:10.22459/IREH.03.01.2017.07
- Frebold, H. (1957). "Genus" Titanites Buckman. In: The Jurassic Fernie Group in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and foothills. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 287. Canada Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. pp. 66–67.
- Frey, R.C. (1995). Middle and Upper Ordovician nautiloid cephalopods of the Cincinnati Arch region of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver.
- Galbreath, G.J. (2015). The 1848 'Enormous Serpent' of the Daedalus Identified. Skeptical Inquirer 39(5): 42–46.
- Gantès, R.T.F. (1979). Le mystère des pieuvres géantes. Études Vivantes, Paris. 63 pp. ISBN:2-7310-1213-7. (in French)
- Garcin, P.-Y. & M. Raynal (2011). Tentacules: de la science à la fiction. Éditions Gaussen, Marseille. 144 pp. ISBN:2-356-98034-2. (in French)
- Gennaro, Jr., J.F. (1971). An octopus trilogy. Part 2: the creature revealed. Natural History 80(3): 24, 84.
- Gerhardt, M.I. (1966). Knowledge in decline: ancient and medieval information on "ink-fishes" and their habits. Vivarium 4(1): 144–175. doi:10.1163/156853466X00079
- Ghiselin, M.T. (1974). The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex. University of California Press, Berkeley. 346 pp. ISBN:0-520-02474-5.
- Gibson, J. (1887). Monsters of the Sea: Legendary and Authentic. Thomas Nelson and Sons, London. 138 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.138418
- Glaubrecht, M. & M.A. Salcedo-Vargas (2004). The Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas (Orbigny, 1835): history of the Berlin specimen, with a reappraisal of other (bathy-)pelagic gigantic cephalopods (Mollusca, Ommastrephidae, Architeuthidae). Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 80(1): 53–69. doi:10.1002/mmnz.20040800105
- Glenday, C. (ed.) (2014). Mostly molluscs. [pp. 62–63] In: Guinness World Records 2015. Guinness World Records. 255 pp. ISBN:1-908843-70-5
- González, M., M. Fernández-Casado, M.d.P. Rodríguez, A. Segura & J.J. Martín (2000). First record of the giant squid Architeuthis sp. (Architeuthidae) in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 80: 745–746 doi:10.1017/S0025315400002630
- González, Á.F., Á. Guerra & F. Rocha (2003). New data on the life history and ecology of the deep-sea hooked squid Taningia danae. Sarsia 88(4): 297–301.
- Goodrich, S.G. (1861). Illustrated Natural History of the Animal Kingdom, being a systematic and popular description of the habits, structure, and classification of animals from the highest to the lowest forms, with their relations to agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and the arts. Vol. I. Derby & Jackson, New York. xv + 680 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.118884
- Gosse, P.H. (1861). Assault of a cuttle. [pp. 235–237] In: The Romance of Natural History. Gould and Lincoln, Boston. xiv + 372 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.3995
- Goudsward, D. (2017). The Fabled Florida Giant Octopus – A History. [unpaginated; 24 pp.] In: International Cryptozoology Society Journal: Volume One, 2016. International Cryptozoology Museum, Portland. 112 pp. ISBN:1-52-183755-4.
- Gould, C. (1886). Mythical Monsters. W. H. Allen & Co., London. 407 pp.
- Grant, G. (1896). The sea monster that came on the Florida coast. Pennsylvania Grit, 13 December 1896.
- Greshko, M. (2016). Giant Squid Could Be Bigger Than a School Bus. National Geographic, 27 May 2016.
- Griggs, K. (2003). Super squid surfaces in Antarctic. BBC News, 2 April 2003.
- Grist, E.P.M. & G.D. Jackson (2007). How long would it take to become a giant squid? Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 17(2–3): 385–399. doi:10.1007/s11160-007-9046-x
- Gröger, J., U. Piatkowski & H. Heinemann (2000). Beak length analysis of the Southern Ocean squid Psychroteuthis glacialis (Cephalopoda: Psychroteuthidae) and its use for size and biomass estimation. Polar Biology 23(1): 70–74. doi:10.1007/s003000050009
- Grønningsaeter, A. (1946). Sjøormen-blekkspruten. Naturen 70(12): 379–380. (in Norwegian)
- Grulke, W. (2014). Heteromorph: The rarest fossil ammonites: Nature at its most bizarre. At One Communications. 224 pp. ISBN:978-0-9929740-0-8.
- Grulke, W. (2016). Nautilus: Beautiful survivor: 500 million years of evolutionary history. At One Communications. 224 pp. ISBN:978-0-9929740-2-2.
- Guerra, Á. & Á.F. González (2009). ¿Qué sabemos de? El calamar gigante. CSIC & Los Libros de la Catarata, Madrid. 116 pp. ISBN:978-84-8319-466-9. (in Spanish)
- Guerra, Á., Á.F. González, S. Pascual & E.G. Dawe (2011). The giant squid Architeuthis: an emblematic invertebrate that can represent concern for the conservation of marine biodiversity. Biological Conservation 144(7): 1989–1997. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.04.021
- Guerra, Á., Á.F. González & G.J. Pierce (2018). First record on stranding of a live giant squid Architeuthis dux outside Japanese waters. Ecology, published online on 23 January 2018. doi:10.1002/ecy.2073
- Guerra, Á., Á.F. González, F. Rocha, J. Gracia & L. Laria (2006). Enigmas de la Ciencia: El Calamar Gigante. CEPESMA, Vigo. 313 pp. ISBN:8460999998. (in Spanish)
- Guerra, Á., A.B. Rodríguez-Navarro, Á.F. González, C.S. Romanek, P. Álvarez-Lloret & G.J. Pierce (2010). Life-history traits of the giant squid Architeuthis dux revealed from stable isotope signatures recorded in beaks. ICES Journal of Marine Science 67(7): 1425–1431. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsq091
- Guerra, Á. & M. Segonzac (2014). Géants des profondeurs. Éditions Quæ, Versailles. 143 pp. ISBN:2-7592-2220-9. (in French)
- Haaker, P.L. (1985). Observations of a dwarf octopus, Octopus micropyrsus. Shells and Sea Life 17(1): 39–40.
- Hallam, A. (1975). Evolutionary size increase and longevity in Jurassic bivalves and ammonites. Nature 258: 493–496. doi:10.1038/258493a0
- Hanlon, R.T. & J.B. Messenger (2018). Large Squid and the Giant Squid, Architeuthis. [pp. 264–268] In: Cephalopod Behaviour. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. xv + 365 pp. ISBN:1-108-54674-9.
- Hansford, D. (2009). Rare Photos: Giant Squid Eaten by Sperm Whale. National Geographic News, 29 October 2009.
- Harasewych, M.G. & F. Moretzsohn (2010). The Book of Shells: A lifesize guide to identifying and classifying six hundred shells. A & C Black Publishers, London. ISBN:1408125277.
- Hashimoto, Y. (2017). Pirates, Piracy and Octopus: From Multi-Armed Monster to Model Minority? [pp. 37–46] In: S. Inaga (ed.) A Pirate's View of World History: A Reversed Perception of the Order of Things From a Global Perspective. International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto. 174 pp.
- Haszprunar, G. & A. Wanninger (2012). Molluscs. Current Biology 22(13): R510–R514. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.05.039
- Hecht, J. (1995). The sea monster that never was. New Scientist no. 1972, 8 April 1995.
- Heuvelmans, B. (1958). Dans le sillage des monstres marins: le kraken et le poulpe colossal. Plon, Paris. OCLC 16321559 (in French) [English translation: Heuvelmans, B. (2003). The Kraken and the Colossal Octopus: In the Wake of Sea-Monsters. Kegan Paul International, London. xv + 332 pp. ISBN:0-7103-0870-1.]
- Hewitt, R.A. & J.M. Hurst (1977). Size changes in Jurassic liparoceratid ammonites and their stratigraphical and ecological significance. Lethaia 10(4): 287–301. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1977.tb00623.x
- Hickey, S. (2009). Super squid: Museum set to open next month. Advertiser (Grand Falls), 25 May 2009.
- Hickey, S. (2010). Canada Post celebrates the giant squid. Advertiser (Grand Falls), 17 June 2010.
- High, W.L. (1976). The giant Pacific octopus. Marine Fisheries Review 38(9): 17–22.
- Hochberg, F.G. & W.G. Fields (1980). Cephalopoda: The Squids and Octopuses. In: R.H. Morris, D.P. Abbott & E.C. Haderlie (eds.) Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Stanford University Press, Stanford. pp. 429–444. ISBN:0804710457.
- Hoff, B. (2003). Finding & pondering the greatest squid ever known to man. [pp. 83–98] In: Eggers, D. (ed.) McSweeney's 11. McSweeney's, San Francisco. 293 pp. + DVD. ISBN:978-1-932416-01-5.
- Hofilena, J. (2014). 4-meter long giant squid found caught in fishing net off Japan. The Japan Daily Press, 13 January 2014.
- Hogenboom, M. (2014). Are massive squid really the sea monsters of legend? BBC Earth, 12 December 2014.
- Holden, C. (1995). One sea monster down. Science 268(5208): 207–208. doi:10.1126/science.268.5208.207-c
- Holder, C.F. (1899). A large octopus. Scientific American 81(12): 180. JSTOR 26126743
- Holland, C.H. (1987). The nautiloid cephalopods: a strange success. Journal of the Geological Society of London 144(1): 1–15. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.144.1.0001
- Hollenbeck, N. & D. Scheel (2017). Body patterns of the frilled giant Pacific octopus, a new species of octopus from Prince William Sound, AK. American Malacological Bulletin 35(2): 134–144. doi:10.4003/006.035.0206
- Hollenbeck, N., D. Scheel, M.C. Gravley, G.K. Sage, R. Toussaint & S.L. Talbot (2017). Use of swabs for sampling epithelial cells for molecular genetics analyses in Enteroctopus. American Malacological Bulletin 35(2): 145–157. doi:10.4003/006.035.0207
- Holroyd, J. (2005). New squid on the (ice) block. The Age, 21 December 2005.
- Hoving, H.J.T. & S.H.D. Haddock (2017). The giant deep-sea octopus Haliphron atlanticus forages on gelatinous fauna. Scientific Reports 7: 44952. doi:10.1038/srep44952
- Hoving, H.J.T. & B.H. Robison (2017). The pace of life in deep-dwelling squids. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 126: 40–49. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2017.05.005
- Howard, J. (2017). Do sea monsters exist? Yes, but they go by another name ... The Guardian , 18 May 2017.
- Humphries, S. & G.D. Ruxton (2002). Why did some ichthyosaurs have such large eyes? The Journal of Experimental Biology 205(4): 439–441.
- Hutsell, K.C., L.L. Hutsell & D.L. Pisor (1997). Registry of World Record Size Shells. First edition. Snail's Pace Productions, San Diego. ii + 101 pp. ISBN:0965901718.
- Hutsell, K.C., L.L. Hutsell & D.L. Pisor (2001). Registry of World Record Size Shells. Third edition. Snail's Pace Productions, San Diego. vii + 158 pp. ISBN:0965901734.
- Iba, Y., S.-I. Sano & M. Goto (2015). Large belemnites were already common in the Early Jurassic—new evidence from central Japan. Paleontological Research 19(1): 21–25. doi:10.2517/2014PR025
- Iversen, R.T.S., P.J. Perkins & R.D. Dionne (1963). An indication of underwater sound production by squid. Nature 199: 250–251. doi:10.1038/199250a0
- Iwai, E. (1956). Descriptions on unidentified species of dibranchiate cephalopods. I. An oegopsiden squid belonging to the genus Architeuthis. The Scientific Reports of the Whale Research Institute 11: 139–151.
- Jackson, G.D. & M.L. Domeier (2003). The effects of an extraordinary El Niño / La Niña event on the size and growth of the squid Loligo opalescens off Southern California. Marine Biology 142(5): 925–935. doi:10.1007/s00227-002-1005-4
- Jereb, P. (2005). Family Nautilidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and Illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 1. FAO, Rome. pp. 51–55.
- Jereb, P., M. Vecchione & C.F.E. Roper (2010). Family Loliginidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 38–117.
- Johnson, C.S. (1978). Sea creatures and the problem of equipment damage. United States Naval Institute Proceedings 104(8): 106–107.
- Johnson, R.I. (1989). Molluscan taxa of Addison Emery Verrill and Katharine Jeannette Bush, including those introduced by Sanderson Smith and Alpheus Hyatt Verrill. Occasional Papers on Mollusks 5(67): 1–143. [Octopus giganteus on p. 39]
- Johnson, R.I. (1998). The myth of Octopus giganteus Verrill, 1897: a whale of a story. Occasional Papers on Mollusks 5(76): 456–457.
- Kauffman, E.G. (1990). Cretaceous fish predation on a large squid. [pp. 195–196] In: A.J. Boucot (ed.) Evolutionary Paleobiology of Behavior and Coevolution. Elsevier, Amsterdam. xxiii + 725 pp. ISBN:0-444-88034-8.
- Kawahara, M., S. Uye, K. Ohtsu & H. Iizumi (2006). Unusual population explosion of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) in East Asian waters. Marine Ecology Progress Series 307: 161–173. doi:10.3354/meps307161
- Keel, J.A. (1970). Strange Creatures From Time and Space. Fawcett Publications, Greenwich. 288 pp. [ISBN of 1975 Spearman edition: ISBN:0-85435-372-0.]
- Keil, A. (1963). Riesentintenfische aus dem Pottwal-Magen. Natur und Museum 93(8): 319–323. (in German)
- Kennedy, W.J. (1977). [Ammonite evolution:] Evolutionary size changes. In: A. Hallam (ed.) Patterns of evolution, as illustrated by the fossil record. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam. pp. 288–290.
- Kennedy, W.J. & W.A. Cobban (1990). Cenomanian micromorphic ammonites from the Western Interior of the USA. Palaeontology 33(2): 379–422.
- Kennedy, W.J. & U. Kaplan (1995). Parapuzosia (Parapuzosia) seppenradensis (Landois) und die Ammonitenfauna der Dülmener Schichten, unteres Unter-Campan, Westfalen. Geologie und Paläontologie in Westfalen 33: 1–127. ISBN:3-924590-44-3. (in German)
- Kin, A. & R. Niedźwiedzki (2012). First record of the puzosiine ammonite genus Pachydesmoceras from the Middle and Upper Turonian of Poland. Cretaceous Research 33(1): 15–20. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.07.003
- Kirk, T.W. (1880). On the occurrence of giant cuttlefish on the New Zealand coast. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 12(2): 310–313.
- Kirk, T.W. (1888). Brief description of a new species of large decapod (Architeuthis longimanus). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 20(1): 34–39.
- Klug, C., K. De Baets, B. Kröger, M.A. Bell, D. Korn & J.L. Payne (2015). Normal giants? Temporal and latitudinal shifts of Palaeozoic marine invertebrate gigantism and global change. Lethaia 48(2): 267–288. doi:10.1111/let.12104
- Knop, D. (1996). Giant Clams: A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tridacnid Clams. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen.
- Korabelnikov, L.V. (1959). The diet of sperm whales in the Antarctic seas. Priroda 3: 103–104. (in Russian)
- Kröger, B. (2003). The size of the siphuncle in cephalopod evolution. Senckenbergiana Lethaea 83: 39. doi:10.1007/BF03043304
- Kubodera, T. (2009). 海に生きるものたちの掟: 食うか食われるか、命を受け継ぐ食物連鎖の秘密. SoftBank Creative, Tokyo. 208 pp. ISBN:4797350717. (in Japanese)
- Kubodera, T. (2010). Observations of mesopelagic large squids in the wild using recently developed underwater visual equipment. [pp. 22–42] In: S. Uchida (ed.) Proceedings of an International Symposium: Into the Unknown, Researching Mysterious Deep-sea Animals. February 23–24, 2007, Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Motobu. 179 pp. ISBN:4-9904177-0-4.
- Kubodera, T. (2013a). 深海の怪物 ダイオウイカを追え! Popurasha, Tokyo. 144 pp. ISBN:4591135152. (in Japanese)
- Kubodera, T. (2013b). ダイオウイカ、奇跡の遭遇. Shinchosha, Tokyo. 202 pp. ISBN:4103346914. (in Japanese)
- Kubodera, T. & H. Horikawa (2005). Cephalopod fauna around Nansei Islands, southern Japan. In: K. Hasegawa, G. Shinohara & M. Takeda (eds.) Deep-sea Fauna and Pollutants in Nansei Islands. National Science Museum Monographs No. 29. National Science Museum, Tokyo. pp. 191–223. NAID 110004677347
- Kubodera, T., Y. Koyama & K. Mori (2006). Observations of wild hunting behaviour and bioluminescence of a large deep-sea, eight-armed squid, Taningia danae. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274(1613): 1029–1034. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0236
- Kubodera, T. & K. Mori (2005). First-ever observations of a live giant squid in the wild. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272(1581): 2583–2586. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3158
- Kubodera, T., U. Piatkowski, T. Okutani & M.R. Clarke (1998). Taxonomy and zoogeography of the family Onychoteuthidae (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 586(2): 277–291.
- Kubodera, T., T. Wada, M. Higuchi & A. Yatabe (2016). Extraordinary numbers of giant squid, Architeuthis dux, encountered in Japanese coastal waters of the Sea of Japan from January 2014 to March 2015. Marine Biodiversity, published online on 24 December 2016. doi:10.1007/s12526-016-0618-7 [supplementary material]
- Kummel, B. (1948). Environmental significance of dwarfed cephalopods. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 18(2): 61–64. doi:10.1306/D4269305-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D
- Land, M.F. & D.-E. Nilsson (2012). Animal Eyes. Second edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. xiii + 271 pp. ISBN:0-19-958113-4.
- Landman, N.H., J.K. Cochran, R. Cerrato, J. Mak, C.F.E. Roper & C.C. Lu (2004). Habitat and age of the giant squid (Architeuthis sanctipauli) inferred from isotopic analyses. Marine Biology 144(4): 685–691. doi:10.1007/s00227-003-1245-y
- Landman, N.H. & R. Ellis (1998). Architeuthis—at last. Curator: The Museum Journal 41(3): 150–152. doi:10.1111/j.2151-6952.1998.tb00828.x
- Landman, N.H., S.M. Klofak & K.B. Sarg (2003). Variation in adult size of scaphitid ammonites from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale and Fox Hills Formation. In: P.J. Harries (ed.) High-Resolution Approaches in Stratigraphic Paleontology. Springer. pp. 149–194. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9053-0_5
- Landois, H. (1895). Die Riesenammoniten von Seppenrade, Pachydiscus Zittel Seppenradensis H. Landois. Jahresbericht des Westfälischen Provinzial-Vereins für Wissenschaft und Kunst 23: 99–108. (in German)
- Landois, H. (1898). Gewichtsverhältnisse unserer Riesen-Ammoniten. Jahresbericht des Westfälischen Provinzial-Vereins für Wissenschaft und Kunst 26: 27–28. (in German)
- Lane, F.W. (1957). Kingdom of the Octopus: The Life-History of the Cephalopoda. Jarrolds Publishers, London. xx + 287 pp.
- Laptikhovsky, V. (2006). Latitudinal and bathymetric trends in egg size variation: a new look at Thorson's and Rass's rules. Marine Ecology 27(1): 7–14. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0485.2006.00077.x
- Laptikhovsky, V., S. Nikolaeva & M. Rogov (2018). Cephalopod embryonic shells as a tool to reconstruct reproductive strategies in extinct taxa. Biological Reviews 93(1): 270–283. doi:10.1111/brv.12341
- Laptikhovsky, V.V., M.A. Rogov, S.V. Nikolaeva & A.I. Arkhipkin (2013). Environmental impact on ectocochleate cephalopod reproductive strategies and the evolutionary significance of cephalopod egg size. Bulletin of Geosciences 88(1): 83–94.
- Larson, N.L. (2010). Enchoteuthididae: giant cephalopods from the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior. [pp. 66–78] In: J.P. Cavigelli (ed.) Tate 2010: 16th Annual Tate Conference, June 4–6, 2010. Beneath Wyoming Waves: Marine Paleontology. Tate Geological Museum, Casper. 94 pp.
- Larson, N.L., S.D. Jorgensen, R.A. Farrar & P.L. Larson (1997). Ammonites and the Other Cephalopods of the Pierre Seaway. Geoscience Press, Tucson. ISBN:0-945005-25-3.
- Larson, R.J. (1986). Water content, organic content, and carbon and nitrogen composition of medusae from the northeast Pacific. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 99(2): 107–120. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(86)90231-5
- LeBlond, P.H. & J.R. Sibert (1973). Observations of large unidentified marine animals in British Columbia and adjacent waters. Manuscript Report No. 28. Institute of Oceanography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. 64 + A-3 pp. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3821.9608
- Lee, H. (1875). Gigantic cuttle-fishes. [pp. 99–114] In: The Octopus; or, the "devil-fish" of fiction and of fact. Chapman and Hall, London. xv + 114 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.10557
- Lee, H. (1883). Sea Monsters Unmasked. William Clowes and Sons, London. vii + 103 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.101985
- Lee, J.J. (2014). 160-Foot Giant Squid Hoax: How Big Do They Really Get? National Geographic Daily News, 10 January 2014.
- Lehn, W.H. & I. Schroeder (1981). The Norse merman as an optical phenomenon. Nature 289: 362–366. doi:10.1038/289362a0
- Leith, E.I. (1942). Notes on the cephalopod Lambeoceras lambii from Manitoba. Journal of Paleontology 16(1): 130–132.
- Leporati, S.C., G.T. Pecl & J.M. Semmens (2007). Cephalopod hatchling growth: the effects of initial size and seasonal temperatures. 151: 1375. doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0575-y
- Lewy, Z. (2002). The function of the ammonite fluted septal margins. Journal of Paleontology 76(1): 63–69. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0063:TFOTAF>2.0.CO;2
- Ley, W. (1941). Scylla was a squid. Natural History 48(1): 11–13.
- Ley, W. (1959). Exotic Zoology. The Viking Press, New York. xii + 468 pp. ISBN:067030171X.
- Liu, Y.-C., T.-H. Liu, C.-C. Yu, C.-H. Su & C.-C. Chiao (2017). Mismatch between the eye and the optic lobe in the giant squid. Royal Society Open Science 4: 170289. doi:10.1098/rsos.170289
- Lipington, T. (2007–2009). User:Tim lipington. Wikipedia, 11 October 2007 – 17 March 2009.
- Lipington, T. (2008). Sighting of Possible Large Cephalopod Near Portugal. The Octopus News Magazine Online Forums, 3 April 2008.
- Llinás, R.R. (1999). The Squid Giant Synapse: A Model for Chemical Transmission. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN:0195116526.
- Lovis, P. (2011). Colossal squid on display gets check-up. Te Papa Blog, 14 February 2011.
- Lucas, F.A. (1897). The Florida Monster. Science 5(116): 476. doi:10.1126/science.5.116.476-a
- Lucas, F.A. (1928). Some mistakes of scientists: errors in research honestly made and honestly corrected. Natural History 28(2): 169–174.
- Lynch, M. (2013). The Search for the Ocean's Super Predator. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- Lynnes, A.S. & P.G. Rodhouse (2002). A big mouthful for predators: the largest recorded specimen of Kondakovia longimana (Cephalopoda: Onychoteuthidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 71(2): 1087–1090.
- MacGinitie, G.E. & N. MacGinitie (1949). Natural History of Marine Animals. McGraw-Hill, New York. xii + 473 pp.
- MacGinitie, G.E. & N. MacGinitie (1968). Natural History of Marine Animals. Second edition. McGraw-Hill, New York. 523 pp.
- Maciá, S., M.P. Robinson, P. Craze, R. Dalton & J.D. Thomas (2004). New observations on airborne jet propulsion (flight) in squid, with a review of previous reports. Journal of Molluscan Studies 70(3): 297–299. doi:10.1093/mollus/70.3.297
- Mackal, R.P. (1980). Octopus giganteus Verrill. [pp. 33–49] In: Searching for Hidden Animals: An Inquiry into Zoological Mysteries. Doubleday, Garden City. xxiii + 294 pp. ISBN:0-385-14897-6.
- Mackal, R.P. (1986). Biochemical analyses of preserved Octopus giganteus tissue. Cryptozoology: Interdisciplinary Journal of the International Society of Cryptozoology 5: 55–62.
- Manger, W.L., L.K. Meeks & D.A. Stephen (1999). Pathologic gigantism in middle Carboniferous cephalopods, southern midcontinent, United States. In: F. Olóriz & F.J. Rodríguez-Tovar (eds.) Advancing Research on Living and Fossil Cephalopods. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. pp. 77–89. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-4837-9_7
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1975a). Octopus giganteus Verrill: a new species of cephalopod. Of Sea and Shore 6(1): 3–10, 51–52.
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1975b). Colossal battle. Of Sea and Shore 6(4): 222.
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1976a). The Great Ones: a fragmented history of the giant and the colossal octopus. Of Sea and Shore 7(2): 93–96.
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1976b). A monstrous jellyfish? Of Sea and Shore 7(3): 169.
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1977). More on Octopus giganteus. Of Sea and Shore 8(3): 174, 178.
- Mangiacopra, G.S. (1999). Another Octopus giganteus rebuttal – again! Of Sea and Shore 21(4): 233–234.
- Mangiacopra, G.S., M.P.R. Raynal, D.G. Smith & D.F. Avery (1994). Update on Octopus giganteus Verrill Part 1: more forgotten fragments of its 19th century history. Of Sea and Shore 17(3): 171–178.
- Mangiacopra, G.S., M.M. Raynal, D.G. Smith & D.F. Avery (1995a). History repeating itself: Part II. Ignored – rediscovered – ignored again! – and final vindication for Octopus giganteus: 1909–1994. Of Sea and Shore 17(4): 221–225.
- Mangiacopra, G.S., M.P.R. Raynal, D.G. Smith & D.F. Avery (1995b). Octopus giganteus: still alive and hiding where? Part III: Lusca and scuttles of the Caribbean. Of Sea and Shore 18(1): 5–12.
- Mangiacopra, G.S., D.G. Smith, D.F. Avery, M. Raynal, R. Ellis, J.R. Greenwell & B. Heuvelmans (1996). An open forum on the Biological Bulletin's article of the Octopus giganteus tissue analysis. Of Sea and Shore 19(1): 45–50.
- Markey, M. (2010). The Saint Augustine Monster. Smithsonian Institution Archives Blog, 18 August 2010.
- Matthews, L.H. (1938). The sperm whale, Physeter catodon. Discovery Reports 17: 93–168.
- McCarey, K. & J. Rubin (directors) (1998). Sea Monsters: Search for the Giant Squid. [documentary film] National Geographic Television. 55 mins.
- McClain, C.R., M.A. Balk, M.C. Benfield, T.A. Branch, C. Chen, J. Cosgrove, A.D.M. Dove, L.C. Gaskins, R.R. Helm, F.G. Hochberg, F.B. Lee, A. Marshall, S.E. McMurray, C. Schanche, S.N. Stone & A.D. Thaler (2015). Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. PeerJ 3: e715. doi:10.7717/peerj.715
- McDowall, C.A. (1998). Giant squid? The Marine Observer: A Quarterly Journal of Maritime Meteorology 68(339): 39.
- McMenamin, M.A.S. (2012). Evidence for a Triassic Kraken: unusual arrangement of bones at Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada. 21st Century Science & Technology 24(4): 55–58.
- McMenamin, M.A.S. (2016). Deep Bones. In: M.A.S. McMenamin Dynamic Paleontology: Using Quantification and Other Tools to Decipher the History of Life. Springer, Cham. pp. 131–158. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22777-1_9 ISBN:978-3-319-22776-4.
- McMenamin, M.A.S. & D. Schulte McMenamin (2011). Triassic Kraken: the Berlin ichthyosaur death assemblage interpreted as a giant cephalopod midden. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 43(5): 310.
- McMenamin, M.A.S. & D. Schulte McMenamin (2013). The Kraken's back: new evidence regarding possible cephalopod arrangement of ichthyosaur skeletons. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 45(7): 900.
- Meek, A. & T.R. Goddard (1926). On two specimens of giant squid stranded on the Northumberland coast. Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, new series, 6(2): 229–237.
- Mignot, Y., S. Elmi & J.-L. Dommergues (1993). Croissance et miniaturisation de quelques Hildoceras (Cephalopoda) en liaison avec des environnements contraignants de la Téthys toarcienne. Geobios 26(supplement 1): 305–312. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(06)80384-0 (in French)
- Mikkelson, D. (2014). Gigantic Squid: Has a gigantic squid washed ashore along the California coastline? Snopes.com, 12 January 2014.
- Miller, A.K. & B. Kummel (1944). Some large straight Ordovician cephalopods from Minnesota. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 30(2): 19–38.
- Miller, H.W. (1957). Niobrarateuthis bonneri, a new genus and species of squid from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas. Journal of Paleontology 31(4): 809–811. JSTOR 1300484
- Miller, R. (1997). Squid or octopus? A 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas mystery. Extraordinary Voyages 3(3): 3.
- Miller, R. (1998). 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – the mysterious giant squid, part three. Extraordinary Voyages 4(2): 1–2.
- Miller, W.J. & F.P. Walter (1997). Verne's controversial giant squid: continued. Extraordinary Voyages 4(1): 1–5.
- Milne, D.H. (1995). Marine Life and the Sea. Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont. xxii + 459 + A-28 pp. ISBN:0534163149.
- Mitsukuri, K. & S. Ikeda (1895). Notes on a gigantic cephalopod. Zoological Magazine 7(77): 39–50. (in Japanese)
- Miyahara, K., K. Fukui, T. Ota & T. Minami (2006). Laboratory observations on the early life stages of the diamond squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus. Journal of Molluscan Studies 72(2): 199–205. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyi068
- Monnet, C., A. Brayard & M. Brosse (2015). Evolutionary Trends of Triassic Ammonoids. In: C. Klug, D. Korn, K. De Baets, I. Kruta & R.H. Mapes (eds.) Ammonoid Paleobiology: From macroevolution to paleogeography. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 25–50. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9633-0_2 ISBN:978-94-017-9632-3.
- Mooney, T.A., R.T. Hanlon, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, P.T. Madsen, D.R. Ketten & P.E. Nachtigall (2010). Sound detection by the longfin squid (Loligo pealeii) studied with auditory evoked potentials: sensitivity to low-frequency particle motion and not pressure. The Journal of Experimental Biology 213: 3748–3759. doi:10.1242/jeb.048348
- Morten, S.D. & R.J. Twitchett (2009). Fluctuations in the body size of marine invertebrates through the Pliensbachian–Toarcian extinction event. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 284(1–2): 29–38. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.08.023
- Mosendz, P. (2015). Photos: rare giant squid found off the coast of Hawaii. Newsweek, 3 October 2015.
- Motani, R., B.M. Rothschild & W. Wahl (1999). Large eyeballs in diving ichthyosaurs. Nature 402: 747. doi:10.1038/45435
- Muntz, W.R.A. (1995). Giant octopuses and squid from Pliny to the Rev. Moses Harvey. Archives of Natural History 22(1): 1–28. doi:10.3366/anh.1995.22.1.1
- Muramatsu, K., J. Yamamoto, T. Abe, K. Sekiguchi, N. Hoshi & Y. Sakurai (2013). Oceanic squid do fly. Marine Biology 160(5): 1171–1175. doi:10.1007/s00227-013-2169-9
- Murata, M. (1988). On the flying behavior of neon flying squid Ommastrephes bartrami observed in the central and northwestern North Pacific. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 54(7): 1167–1174. doi:10.2331/suisan.54.1167
- Murray, A. (1874). Capture of a gigantic squid at Newfoundland. The American Naturalist 8(2): 120–123. [See also correction: Gigantic cuttle-fishes of Newfoundland. The American Naturalist 8(4): 226–227.]
- Myers, P.Z. (2011). Traces of a Triassic Kraken? Pharyngula, 10 October 2011.
- Myers, P.Z. (2013). Kraken man is back. Pharyngula, 1 November 2013.
- Nabhitabhata, J. (1998). Distinctive behaviour of Thai pygmy squid, Idiosepius thailandicus Chotiyaputta, Okutani & Chaitiamvong, 1991. Phuket Marine Biological Center Special Publication 18(1): 25–40.
- Naish, D. (2017). Krakens, island-monsters, the giant squid and the giant octopus. [pp. 51–60] In: Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths. Sirius Publishing, London. 240 pp. ISBN:1-78428-862-4.
- Nesis, K.N. (1970). Biology of the Peru–Chilean giant squid, Dosidicus gigas. Okeanologiya 10(1): 140–152. (in Russian)
- Nesis, K.N. (1982). Abridged key to the cephalopod mollusks of the world's ocean. Light and Food Industry Publishing House, Moscow. 385 + ii pp. (in Russian) [Translated into English by B.S. Levitov, ed. by L.A. Burgess (1987). (1987). Cephalopods of the World: Squids, Cuttlefishes, Octopuses, and Allies. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City.]
- Nesis, K.N. (1985). Гигантский кальмар в Охотском море. [A giant squid in the Sea of Okhotsk.] Priroda [1985](10): 112–113. (in Russian)
- Nesis, K.N. (1987). Cephalopods of the World: Squids, Cuttlefishes, Octopuses, and Allies. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City. ISBN:0-86622-051-8.
- Newell, N.D. (1949). Phyletic size increase, an important trend illustrated by fossil invertebrates. Evolution 3(2): 103–124. JSTOR 2405545
- Newman, M. (1994). Life in a Fishbowl: Confessions of an Aquarium Director. Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver. ix + 262 pp. ISBN:1550541250.
- [NHK] (2013a). ダイオウイカと深海の生物. Gakken Paburisshingu, Tokyo. 65 pp. ISBN:4056100438. (in Japanese)
- [NHK] (2013b). 深海の超巨大イカ. Shinnihon Shuppansha, Tokyo. 32 pp. ISBN:4406057153. (in Japanese)
- [NHK] (2013c). NHKスペシャル 世界初撮影! 深海の超巨大イカ. [documentary film] NHK Enterprises, Tokyo. 73 mins. (in Japanese)
- [NHK] (2014). 伝説のイカ 宿命の闘い. Shinnihon Shuppansha, Tokyo. 32 pp. ISBN:4406057331. (in Japanese)
- Nicholls, E.L. & H. Isaak (1987). Stratigraphic and taxonomic significance of Tusoteuthis longa Logan (Coleoidea, Teuthida) from the Pembina Member, Pierre Shale (Campanian), of Manitoba. Journal of Paleontology 61(4): 727–737. doi:10.1017/S0022336000029085
- Nightingale, A. (2012). Who's up for lunch? A Gull-eating Octopus in Victoria, BC. BirdFellow, 27 April 2012.
- Nigmatullin, C.M., K.N. Nesis & A.I. Arkhipkin (2001). A review of the biology of the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae). Fisheries Research 54(1): 9–19. doi:10.1016/S0165-7836(01)00371-X
- Nilsson, D.-E., E.J. Warrant, S. Johnsen, R. Hanlon & N. Shashar (2012). A unique advantage for giant eyes in giant squid. Current Biology 22(8): 683–688. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.031
- Nilsson, D.-E., E.J. Warrant, S. Johnsen, R.T. Hanlon & N. Shashar (2013). The giant eyes of giant squid are indeed unexpectedly large, but not if used for spotting sperm whales. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13: 187. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-187
- Norman, M.D. (2000). Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 320 pp. ISBN:3-925919-32-5.
- Norman, M.D. & J.K. Finn (2014). Family Vampyroteuthidae. In: P. Jereb, C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman & J.K. Finn (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cephalopod species known to date. Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 3. FAO, Rome. pp. 268–270.
- Norman, M.D., J.K. Finn & F.G. Hochberg (2014). Family Octopodidae. In: P. Jereb, C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman & J.K. Finn (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cephalopod species known to date. Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 3. FAO, Rome. pp. 36–215.
- Norman, M.D., D. Paul, J. Finn & T. Tregenza (2002). First encounter with a live male blanket octopus: the world's most sexually size-dimorphic large animal. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36(4): 733–736. doi:10.1080/00288330.2002.9517126
- O'Dor, R.K., E.A. Foy, P.L. Helm & N. Balch (1986). The locomotion and energetics of hatchling squid, Illex illecebrosus. American Malacological Bulletin 4(1): 55–60.
- O'Dor, R.K. & J.A. Hoar (2000). Does geometry limit squid growth? ICES Journal of Marine Science 57(1): 8–14. doi:10.1006/jmsc.1999.0502
- O'Dor, R.K., J. Stewart, W. Gilly, J. Payne, T.C. Borges & T. Thys (2013). Squid rocket science: how squid launch into air. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 95: 113–118. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.07.002
- Okutani, T. (1995). Cuttlefish and squids of the world in color. Publication for the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the National Cooperative Association of Squid Processors. 185 pp.
- Okutani, T. (2015a). Megalocranchia maxima Pfeffer, 1884. In: Cuttlefishes and Squids of the World: New Edition. National Cooperative Association of Squid Processors. 246 pp. ISBN:4486037340.
- Okutani, T. (2015b). Onykia (Onykia) robusta (Verrill, 1876). In: Cuttlefishes and Squids of the World: New Edition. National Cooperative Association of Squid Processors. 246 pp. ISBN:4486037340.
- Olivero, E.B. & W.J. Zinsmeister (1989). Large heteromorph ammonites from the Upper Cretaceous of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Journal of Paleontology 63(5): 626–636. JSTOR 1305622
- Omori, M. & M. Kitamura (2004). Taxonomic review of three Japanese species of edible jellyfish (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae). Plankton Biology & Ecology 51(1): 36–51.
- O'Shea, S. (2002). Haliphron atlanticus — a giant gelatinous octopus. Biodiversity Update 5: 1.
- O'Shea, S. (2003a). Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. The Octopus News Magazine Online. [Archived from the original on 7 December 2003.]
- O'Shea, S. (2003b). Kondakovia longimana. In: Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. The Octopus News Magazine Online. [Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.]
- O'Shea, S. (2003c). Re: Colossal Squid Necropsy. The Octopus News Magazine Online Forums, 15 August 2003.
- O'Shea, S. (2003d) Re: Living Architeuthis photo. The Octopus News Magazine Online Forums, 4 October 2003. [Archived from the original on 4 February 2013.]
- O'Shea, S. (2004a). The giant octopus Haliphron atlanticus (Mollusca : Octopoda) in New Zealand waters. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 31(1): 7–13. doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9518353
- O'Shea, S. (2004b). Re: AFO Premiere (Colossal Squid/Sperm Whale). The Octopus News Magazine Online Forums, 25 September 2004. [Archived from the original on 15 December 2007.]
- O'Shea, S. (2006). Estimating age and growth rate in Architeuthis dux. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
- O'Shea, S. & K. Bolstad (2008). Giant Squid and Colossal Squid Fact Sheet. The Octopus News Magazine Online.
- Oudemans, A.C. (1892). The Great Sea-Serpent. An Historical and Critical Treatise. E. J. Brill, Leiden. xv + 592 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.63980
- Owen, R. (1881). Cephalopods remarkable for large size. [pp. 156–168] In: Descriptions of some new and rare Cephalopoda. (Part II.) Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 11(5): 131–170. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1881.tb00354.x
- Packard, Jr., A.S. (1873). Colossal cuttlefishes. The American Naturalist 7(2): 87–94. doi:10.1086/271082
- Partridge, J.C. (2012). Sensory ecology: giant eyes for giant predators? Current Biology 22(8): R268–R270. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.03.021
- Paxton, C.G.M. (2003). The dangers of over-rationalisation, or giant squids are red herrings. The Skeptical Intelligencer 6: 19–28. [Reprinted in a slightly modified form: Paxton, C.G.M. (2004). Giant squids are red herrings: why Architeuthis is an unlikely source of sea monster sightings. The Cryptozoology Review 4(2): 10–16.]
- Paxton, C.G.M. (2009). The plural of 'anecdote' can be 'data': statistical analysis of viewing distances in reports of unidentified large marine animals 1758–2000. Journal of Zoology 279(4): 381–387. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00630.x
- Paxton, C.G.M. (2016a). Unleashing the Kraken: on the maximum length in giant squid (Architeuthis sp.). Journal of Zoology 300(2): 82–88. doi:10.1111/jzo.12347
- Paxton, C.G.M. (2016b). The giant squid that are getting even bigger. [radio broadcast] World Update, 2 June 2016.
- Paxton, C.G.M. & R. Holland (2005). Was Steenstrup right? A new interpretation of the 16th century sea monk of the Øresund. Steenstrupia 29(1): 39–47.
- Paxton, C.G.M., E. Knatterud & S.L. Hedley (2005). Cetaceans, sex and sea serpents: an analysis of the Egede accounts of a "most dreadful monster" seen off the coast of Greenland in 1734. Archives of Natural History 32(1): 1–9. doi:10.3366/anh.2005.32.1.1
- Paxton, C.G.M. & A.J. Shine (2016). A checklist of historical hypotheses for the Loch Ness Monster. The Journal of Cryptozoology 4: 21–37.
- Payne, J.L., A.G. Boyer, J.H. Brown, S. Finnegan, M. Kowalewski, R.A. Krause, Jr., S.K. Lyons, C.R. McClain, D.W. McShea, P.M. Novack-Gottshall, F.A. Smith, J.A. Stempien & S.C. Wang (2009). Two-phase increase in the maximum size of life over 3.5 billion years reflects biological innovation and environmental opportunity. PNAS 106(1): 24–27. doi:10.1073/pnas.0806314106
- [PBS] (2012). Inside Nature's Giants: Giant Squid. [documentary film] Windfall Films. 53 mins.
- Peattie, N. (1996). Hydra & Kraken: or, the Lore and Lure of Lake-Monsters and Sea-Serpents. Regent Press, Oakland. 56 pp. ISBN:0-916147-99-1.
- Pecl, G.T., M.A. Steer & K.E. Hodgson (2004). The role of hatchling size in generating the intrinsic size-at-age variability of cephalopods: extending the Forsythe Hypothesis. Marine and Freshwater Research 55(4): 387–394. doi:10.1071/MF03153
- Phillips, J.B. (1933). Description of a giant squid taken at Monterey, with notes on other squid taken off the California coast. California Fish and Game 19(2): 128–136.
- Phillips, J.B. (1961). Two unusual cephalopods taken near Monterey. California Fish and Game 47(4): 416–417.
- Phillips, K. (2004). Squid's eye for scale. The Journal of Experimental Biology 207(24): ii. doi:10.1242/jeb.01354
- Pierce, S.K., S.E. Massey, N.E. Curtis, G.N. Smith, C. Olavarría & T.K. Maugel (2004). Microscopic, biochemical, and molecular characteristics of the Chilean Blob and a comparison with the remains of other sea monsters: nothing but whales. The Biological Bulletin 206(3): 125–133. doi:10.2307/1543636
- Pierce, S.K., G.N. Smith, T.K. Maugel & E. Clark (1995). On the Giant Octopus (Octopus giganteus) and the Bermuda Blob: homage to A. E. Verrill. The Biological Bulletin 188(2): 219–230. doi:10.2307/1542087
- Pisor, D.L. (2005). Registry of World Record Size Shells. Fourth edition. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 171 pp. ISBN:0965901742.
- Pisor, D.L. (2008). Registry of World Record Size Shells. Fifth edition. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 207 pp. ISBN:0615194753.
- Pliny the Elder (77–79 AD). Naturalis Historia. [Natural History.] 37 books.
- Pohle, A. & C. Klug (2017). Body size of orthoconic cephalopods from the late Silurian and Devonian of the Anti-Atlas (Morocco). Lethaia 51(1): 126–148. doi:10.1111/let.12234
- Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto (1993). European Seashells. Vol. II: Scaphopoda, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden. 221 pp. ISBN:3-925919-10-4.
- Potier, M., F. Ménard, H.D. Benivary & R. Sabatié (2011). Length and weight estimates from diagnostic hard part structures of fish, crustacea and cephalopods forage species in the western Indian Ocean. Environmental Biology of Fishes 92(3): 413–423. doi:10.1007/s10641-011-9848-5
- Poulton, T.P. (1989). Jurassic (Oxfordian) ammonites from the Fernie Formation of Western Canada: a giant peltoceratinid, and Cardioceras canadense Whiteaves. Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 396: 173–179.
- Prothero, D. (2011). Octopus' garden in the shale? skepticblog, 2 November 2011.
- Prothero, D. (2013). Krakens and crackpots—again. skepticblog, 6 November 2013.
- Puig, R. (2004). A Whale of a Tale. Research.Online, 16 August 2004. [Archived from the original on 24 November 2005.]
- Raynal, M. (1987). Properties of the collagen and the nature of the Florida Monster. Cryptozoology: Interdisciplinary Journal of the International Society of Cryptozoology 6: 129–130.
- Raynal, M. (1995−1996). Le dossier du poulpe colossal (Octopus giganteus Verrill 1897). Cryptozoologia: Revue francophone de Cryptozoologie no. 1: 1–5 (May); no. 2: 1–5 (June); no. 3: 1–5 (July); no. 4: 1–4 (August); no. 5: 1–6 (September); no. 6: 1–7 (October); no. 7: 1–6 (November); no. 8: 1–9 (December); no. 9: 1–7 (January); no. 10: 1–7 (February); no. 11: 7–12 (March); no. 12: 9, 12–13 (April). (in French)
- Raynal, M. (2000). Le "Monstre de Floride" de 1896: cachalot ou pieuvre geante? Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie, 1 May 2000. (in French)
- Raynal, M. (2002). Les pieuvres géantes de Sidmouth: une nouvelle de cryptozoologie-fiction. Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie, 9 March 2002. (in French)
- Raynal, M. (2003a). Le dossier du poulpe colossal. Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie, 10 May 2003. (in French)
- Raynal, M. (2003b). Les poulpes géants du Pacifique. Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie, 10 May 2003. (in French)
- Raynal, M. (2017). The "Florida Monster" of 1896: A Century of Controversy. [unpaginated; 17 pp.] In: International Cryptozoology Society Journal: Volume One, 2016. International Cryptozoology Museum, Portland. 112 pp. ISBN:1-52-183755-4.
- Raynal, M. & M. Dethier (1991). Le «Monstre de Floride» de 1896: cétacé ou poulpe colossal? Bulletin de la Société Neuchâteloise des Sciences Naturelles 114: 105–115. doi:10.5169/seals-89341 (in French)
- Reboulet, S. (2001). Limiting factors on shell growth, mode of life and segregation of valanginian ammonoid populations: evidence from adult-size variations. Geobios 34(4): 423–435. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(01)80006-1
- Rees, W.J. (1950). On a giant squid, Ommastrephes caroli Furtado stranded at Looe, Cornwall. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 1(2): 29–42.
- Reid, A. (2005). Family Spirulidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 1. FAO, Rome. pp. 211–212.
- Reid, A. & P. Jereb (2005). Family Sepiolidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 1. FAO, Rome. pp. 153–203.
- Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper (2005). Family Sepiidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 1. FAO, Rome. pp. 57–152.
- Rice, T. (1995). The most recent report on "Octopus giganteus". Of Sea and Shore 18(3): 172.
- Rice, T. (1998). Octopus giganteus again. Of Sea and Shore 21(1): 52.
- Roach, M. (2013). The Devil Fish and Octopus Wrestling. Between the Lines: Washington State Library Blog, 26 September 2013.
- Robin, M.-P. (1952). Combat de monstres. Le Chasseur français, November 1952. p. 701. (in French)
- Robson, G.C. (1925). On Mesonychoteuthis, a new genus of oegopsid Cephalopoda. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 9, 16: 272–277.
- Robson, G.C. (1933). On Architeuthis clarkei, a new species of giant squid, with observations on the genus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1933(3): 681–697. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1933.tb01614.x
- Roeleveld, M.A.C. (2000). Giant squid beaks: implications for systematics. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 80(1): 185–187. doi:10.1017/S0025315499001769
- Roeleveld, M.A.C. (2002). Tentacle morphology of the giant squid Architeuthis from the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Bulletin of Marine Science 71(2): 725–737.
- Romanov, E.V., S. Jaquemet & L. Puetz (2017). A giant squid (Architeuthis dux) off Reunion Island, western Indian Ocean: the greatest giant ever? Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, published online on 12 September 2017. doi:10.1017/S0025315417001588
- Roper, C.F.E. & K.J. Boss (1982). The giant squid. Scientific American 246(4): 15, 96–100, 104–105. JSTOR 24966572
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010a). Family Architeuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 121–123.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010b). Family Chiroteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 135–145.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010c). Family Cranchiidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 148–178.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010). Family Cycloteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 179–182.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010d). Family Lepidoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 239–240.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010e). Family Magnapinnidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 247–249.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010f). Family Mastigoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 250–256.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010g). Family Octopoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 262–268.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010h). Family Onychoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 348–369.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010i). Family Pholidoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 370–373.
- Roper, C.F.E. & P. Jereb (2010j). Family Thysanoteuthidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 384–387.
- Roper, C.F.E., E.M. Jorgensen, O.N. Katugin & P. Jereb (2010). Family Gonatidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 200–222.
- Roper, C.F.E., C. Nigmatullin & P. Jereb (2010). Family Ommastrephidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper (eds.) Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 2. Myopsid and Oegopsid Squids. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 2. FAO, Rome. pp. 269–347.
- Roper, C.F.E. & E.K. Shea (2013). Unanswered questions about the giant squid Architeuthis (Architeuthidae) illustrate our incomplete knowledge of coleoid cephalopods. American Malacological Bulletin 31(1): 109–122. doi:10.4003/006.031.0104
- Roper C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney & C.E. Nauen (1984). Cephalopods of the world. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy.
- Roper, C.F.E. & M. Vecchione (1993). A geographic and taxonomic review of Taningia danae Joubin, 1931 (Cephalopoda: Octopoteuthidae), with new records and observations on bioluminescence. In: T. Okutani, R.K. O'Dor & T. Kubodera (eds.) Recent Advances in Cephalopod Fisheries Biology. Tokai University Press, Tokyo. pp. 441–456.
- Roper, C.F.E. & G.L. Voss (1983). Guidelines for taxonomic descriptions of cephalopod species. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 44: 48–63.
- Roper, C.F.E. & R.E. Young (1972). First records of juvenile giant squid, Architeuthis (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 85(16): 205–222.
- Rosa, R., L. Gonzalez, H.M. Dierssen & B.A. Seibel (2012). Environmental determinants of latitudinal size-trends in cephalopods. Marine Ecology Progress Series 464: 153–165. JSTOR 24876065
- Rosa, R., V.M. Lopes, M. Guerreiro, K. Bolstad & J.C. Xavier (2017). Biology and ecology of the world's largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review. Polar Biology 40(9): 1871–1883. doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2104-5
- Rosa, R. & B.A. Seibel (2010). Slow pace of life of the Antarctic colossal squid. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 90(7): 1375–1378. doi:10.1017/S0025315409991494
- Rosewater, J.R. (1965). The family Tridacnidae in the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 1(6): 347–408.
- Sakamoto, S. (2013). ドキュメント 深海の超巨大イカを追え! Kobunsha, Tokyo. 262 pp. ISBN:4334037534. (in Japanese)
- Salcedo-Vargas, M.A. (1999). An asperoteuthid squid (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Chiroteuthidae) from New Zealand misidentified as Architeuthis. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 75(1): 47–49. doi:10.1002/mmnz.19990750106
- Salvador, R.B. & B.M. Tomotani (2014). The Kraken: when myth encounters science. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos 21(3): 971–994. doi:10.1590/S0104-59702014000300010
- Sanderson, I.T. (1956). Follow the Whale. Little, Brown and Co., Boston. 423 pp.
- Santos, M.B., G.J. Pierce, Á.F. González, F. Santos, M.A. Vázquez, M.A. Santos & M.A. Collins (2001). First records of Taningia danae (Cephalopoda: Octopoteuthidae) in Galician waters (north-west Spain) and in Scottish waters (UK). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 81(2): 355–356. doi:10.1017/S0025315401003903
- Sazima, I. & L.B. de Almeida (2008). The bird kraken: octopus preys on a sea bird at an oceanic island in the tropical West Atlantic. Marine Biodiversity Records 1: e47. doi:10.1017/S1755267206005458
- Scheel, D. & R. Anderson (2012). Variability in the diet specialization of Enteroctopus dofleini (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) in the eastern Pacific examined from midden contents. American Malacological Bulletin 30(2): 267–279. doi:10.4003/006.030.0206
- Schlegelmilch, R. (1998). Die Belemniten des süddeutschen Jura: Ein Bestimmungsbuch für Geowissenschaftler und Fossiliensammler. Gustav Fisher, Stuttgart. ISBN:3437255266. doi:10.1007/978-3-8274-3083-0 (in German)
- Schmitz, L., R. Motani, C.E. Oufiero, C.H. Martin, M.D. McGee, A.R. Gamarra, J.J. Lee & P.C. Wainwright (2013a). Allometry indicates giant eyes of giant squid are not exceptional. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13: 45. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-45
- Schmitz, L., R. Motani, C.E. Oufiero, C.H. Martin, M.D. McGee & P.C. Wainwright (2013b). Potential enhanced ability of giant squid to detect sperm whales is an exaptation tied to their large body size. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13: 226. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-226
- Scott, G. & M.H. Moore (1928). Ammonites of enormous size from the Texas Cretaceous. Journal of Paleontology 2(4): 273–279. JSTOR 1298015
- Scully, T. (2008). Neuroscience: The great squid hunt. Nature 454(7207): 934–936. doi:10.1038/454934a
- Sharpe, F.A., M.A. Kyte, W.A. Kyte & M. Kyte (1990). Octopus predation on seabirds. Pacific Seabird Group Bulletin 17(1): 34.
- Shoemaker, M.T. (1995). Cryptozoological mystery deepens. INFO Journal 73: 49–50.
- Sitges, F.G. (director) (2003). Proyecto Kraken: En Busca del Calamar Gigante. [documentary film] Transglobe Films. 52 mins. (in Spanish) [English version: Kraken Project: In Search of the Giant Squid.]
- Smith, A.G. (1963). More giant squids from California. California Fish and Game 49(3): 209–211.
- Smith, F.A, J.L. Payne, N.A. Heim, M.A. Balk, S. Finnegan, M. Kowalewski, S.K. Lyons, C.R. McClain, D.W. McShea, P.M. Novack-Gottshall, P.S. Anich & S.C. Wang (2016). Body size evolution across the Geozoic. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 44: 523–553. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012147
- Smith, R.D. (1996). More on "Octopus giganteus". Of Sea and Shore 18(4): 194, 220.
- Snÿder, R. (1995). The giant form of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis from the Arabian Sea. M.Sc. thesis, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen. 70 pp.
- Snÿder, R. (1998). Aspects of the biology of the giant form of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae) from the Arabian Sea. Journal of Molluscan Studies 64(1): 21–34. doi:10.1093/mollus/64.1.21
- Starkey, J.D. (1963). I saw a sea monster. Animals 2(23): 629, 644.
- Staub, F. (1993). Requin bleu, calmar géant et cachalot. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius 5(3): 141–145. (in French)
- Staudinger, M.D., F. Juanes & S. Carlson (2009). Reconstruction of original body size and estimation of allometric relationships for the longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii) and northern shortfin squid (Illex illecebrosus). Fishery Bulletin 107(1): 101–105.
- Stevens, G.R. (1978a). Once upon a time there lived a giant ammonite. Geological Society of New Zealand Newsletter 45: 3–5.
- Stevens, G.R. (1978b). A tale of a giant ammonite. Rockhunter 11(4): 2–9.
- Stevens, G.R. (1979a). The continuing tale of a giant ammonite. Rockhunter 13(1): 33–35.
- Stevens, G.R. (1979b). The continuing tale of a giant ammonite. Geological Society of New Zealand Newsletter 48: 6–9.
- Stevens, G.R. (1979c). New Zealand's record giant ammonite. The Explorers Journal 57(4): 166–171.
- Stevens, G.R. (1985). A revision of the Lytoceratinae (subclass Ammonoidea) including Lytoceras taharoaense n. sp., Upper Jurassic, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 28(1): 153–185. doi:10.1080/00288306.1985.10422282
- Stevens, G.R. (1988). Giant ammonites: a review. In: J. Wiedmann & J. Kullmann (eds.) Cephalopods – Present and Past: O.H. Schindewolf Symposium Tübingen 1985. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart. pp. 141–166.
- Stothers, R.B. (2004). Ancient scientific basis of the "great serpent" from historical evidence. Isis 95(2): 220–238. doi:10.1086/426195
- Sucik, N. (2000). Just when it seemed safe to go snorkeling: Hawaii's giant octopuses. North American BioFortean Review 3(2): 11–17.
- Summesberger, H. (1979). Eine obersantone Ammonitenfauna aus dem Becken von Gosau (Oberösterreich). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien 82: 109–176. (in German)
- Sweeney, M.J. & C.F.E. Roper (2001). Records of Architeuthis Specimens from Published Reports. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. 132 pp.
- Sweeney, M.J. & R.E. Young (2003). Taxa Associated with the Family Architeuthidae Pfeffer, 1900. Tree of Life Web Project.
- Switek, B. (2011a). The Giant Squid: Dragon of the Deep. Smithsonian, 21 June 2011.
- Switek, B. (2011b). The giant, prehistoric squid that ate common sense. Wired, 10 October 2011.
- Tanabe, K. (2012). Comparative morphology of modern and fossil coleoid jaw apparatuses. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 266(1): 9–18. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2012/0243
- Tanabe, K., Y. Hikida & Y. Iba (2006). Two coleoid jaws from the Upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido, Japan. Journal of Paleontology 80(1): 138–145. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2006)080[0138:TCJFTU]2.0.CO;2
- Tanabe, K., A. Misaki & T. Ubukata (2015). Late Cretaceous record of large soft-bodied coleoids based on lower jaw remains from Hokkaido, Japan. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60(1): 27–38. doi:10.4202/app.00057.2013
- Teichert, C. (1927). Der estländische Glint. Natur und Museum 57(6): 264–272. (in German)
- Teichert, C. & B. Kummel (1960). Size of endoceroid cephalopods. Breviora Museum of Comparative Zoology 128: 1–7.
- [Te Papa] (2014). Colossal Squid: What did we find?. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 18 September 2014.
- Tratz, E.P. (1973). Der Riesenkalmar (Architeuthis) im Haus der Natur. Haus der Natur, Salzburg. 15 pp. OCLC 721114691 (in German)
- Trueman, A.E. (1940). The ammonite body-chamber, with special reference to the buoyancy and mode of life of the living ammonite. The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 96(1–4): 339–383. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1940.096.01-04.14
- Tsuchiya, K. & T. Okutani (1993). Rare and interesting squids in Japan -X. Recent occurrences of big squids from Okinawa. Venus 52: 299-311.
- Vecchione, M., T. Kubodera & R.E. Young (2010). Taningia danae Joubin 1931. Tree of Life Web Project.
- Vecchione, M., K.M. Mangold & R.E. Young (2008). Cirrata Grimpe, 1916. Tree of Life Web Project.
- Vecchione, M., R.E. Young, Á. Guerra, D.J. Lindsay, D.A. Clague, J.M. Bernhard, W.W. Sager, Á.F. González, F.J. Rocha & M. Segonzac (2001a). Worldwide observations of remarkable deep-sea squids. Science 294(5551): 2505–2506. doi:10.1126/science.294.5551.2505
- Vecchione, M., R.E. Young, Á. Guerra, D.J. Lindsay, D.A. Clague, J.M. Bernhard, W.W. Sager, Á.F. González, F.J. Rocha & M. Segonzac (2001b). Cephalopods in Action. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
- Vecchione, M., R.E. Young & K. Tsuchiya (2011). Onykia (Onykia) robsoni (Adam, 1962). Tree of Life Web Project.
- Vergano, D. (2013). Did Ancient Sea Monster Turn Prey Into Art? National Geographic Daily News, 30 October 2013. [Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.]
- Vermeij, G.J. (2016). Gigantism and its implications for the history of life. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146092. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146092
- Verrill, A.E. (1874a). Occurrence of gigantic cuttle-fishes on the coast of Newfoundland. The American Journal of Science and Arts 7(38): 158–161.
- Verrill, A.E. (1874b). The giant cuttle-fishes of Newfoundland and the common squids of the New England coast. The American Naturalist 8(3): 167–174. JSTOR 2448747
- Verrill, A.E. (1875a). The colossal cephalopods of the North Atlantic. The American Naturalist 9(1): 21–36. JSTOR 2448361
- Verrill, A.E. (1875b). The colossal cephalopods of the North Atlantic, II. The American Naturalist 9(2): 78–86. JSTOR 2448586
- Verrill, A.E. (1875c). Brief contributions to zoology from the Museum of Yale College. No. XXXV.—Notice of the occurrence of another gigantic cephalopod (Architeuthis) on the coast of Newfoundland, in December, 1874. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3, 10(57): 213–214. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-10.57.213 [Reprinted: Verrill, A.E. (1875). Notice of the occurrence of another gigantic cephalopod (Architeuthis) on the coast of Newfoundland, in December 1874. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 4, 16(94): 266–268. doi:10.1080/00222937508681845]
- Verrill, A.E. (1876). Note on gigantic cephalopods,—a correction. The American Journal of Science and Arts 12(3): 236–237.
- Verrill, A.E. (1877). Occurrence of another gigantic cephalopod on the coast of Newfoundland. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3, 14(83): 425–426.
- Verrill, A.E. (1878). Notice of recent additions to the marine fauna of the eastern coast of North America. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3, 16(93): 207–215. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-16.93.207
- Verrill, A.E. (1880a). The cephalopods of the north-eastern coast of America. Part I.—The gigantic squids (Architeuthis) and their allies; with observations on similar large species from foreign localities. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 5(5): 177–257. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.35965
- Verrill, A.E. (1880b). Synopsis of the Cephalopoda of the North-eastern coast of America. The American Journal of Science, series 3, 19(112): 284–295.
- Verrill, A.E. (1881a). Giant squid (Architeuthis) abundant in 1875, at the Grand Banks. The American Journal of Science, series 3, 21(123): 251–252. [Reprinted: Verrill, A.E. (1881). Giant squid (Architeuthis) abundant in 1875 at the Grand Banks. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 5, 7(40): 351–352. doi:10.1080/00222938109459527]
- Verrill, A.E. (1881b). The cephalopods of the northeastern coast of America. Part II. The smaller cephalopods, including the "squids" and the octopuses, with other allied forms. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 5(5): 259–446.
- Verrill, A.E. (1882a). Occurrence of an additional specimen of Architeuthis at Newfoundland. The American Journal of Science, series 3, 23(133): 71–72.
- Verrill, A.E. (1882b). [Review of] Descriptions of some new and rare Cephalopoda. Part II. [...] By Richard Owen. The American Journal of Science, series 3, 23(133): 72–75.
- Verrill, A.E. (1882c). [Review of] Description of new Cephalopoda; by T. W. Kirk. The American Journal of Science, series 3, 24(144): 477.
- Verrill, A.E. (1897a). A gigantic cephalopod on the Florida coast. The American Journal of Science, series 4, 3(13): 79. [Reprinted: Verrill, A.E. (1897). A gigantic cephalopod on the Florida coast. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 6, 19(110): 240. doi:10.1080/00222939708680533]
- Verrill, A.E. (1897b). Gigantic octopus. New York Herald, 3 January 1897. p. 13.
- Verrill, A.E. (1897c). Additional information concerning the giant cephalopod of Florida. The American Journal of Science, series 4, 3(14): 162–163.
- Verrill, A.E. (1897d). A sea monster off Florida coast. New York Herald, 14 February 1897. p. 5.
- Verrill, A.E. (1897e). The Florida Monster. Science 5(114): 392. doi:10.1126/science.5.114.392
- Verrill, A.E. (1897f). What is this creature? New York Herald, 7 March 1897. p. 13.
- Verrill, A.E. (1897g). The Florida Sea-Monster. Science 5(116): 476. doi:10.1126/science.5.116.476
- Verrill, A.E. (1897h). The Florida Sea-Monster. The American Naturalist 31(364): 304–307. doi:10.1086/276596
- Verrill, A.E. (1897i). The supposed great octopus of Florida; certainly not a cephalopod. The American Journal of Science, series 4, 3(16): 355–356. [Reprinted: Verrill, A.E. (1897). The supposed great octopus of Florida: certainly not a cephalopod. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 6, 19(114): 682–683. doi:10.1080/00222939708680668]
- Verrill, A.H. (1897a). Octopus for New Haven. New Haven Evening Register, 14 February 1897.
- Verrill, A.H. (1897b). An octopus for Yale. The Hartford Daily Courant, 18 February 1897. p. 11.
- Verrill, A.H. (1917). The Ocean and Its Mysteries. Duffield & Co., New York. xv + 189 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.29018
- Verrill, A.H. (1952). The Strange Story of Our Earth: A Panorama of the Growth of Our Planet as Revealed by the Sciences of Geology and Paleontology. L. C. Page & Co., Boston. xviii + 255 pp.
- Verrill, G.E. (1958). The Ancestry, Life and Work of Addison E. Verrill of Yale University. Pacific Coast Publishing Company, Santa Barbara. vii + 99 pp. OCLC 427636826
- Voss, G.L. (1959). Hunting sea monsters. Sea Frontiers: Bulletin of the International Oceanographic Foundation 5(3): 134–146.
- Voss, G.L. (1988). Evolution and phylogenetic relationships of deep-sea octopods (Cirrata and Incirrata). [pp. 253–276] In: M.R. Clarke & E.R. Trueman (eds.). The Mollusca. Volume 12. Paleontology and Neontology of Cephalopods. Academic Press, San Diego. xxiv + 355 pp. ISBN:1-4832-4852-6.
- Walker, M. (2010). Super squid sex organ discovered. BBC Earth News, 7 July 2010.
- Walker, M. (2016). The 27-metre-long giant sea monster: giant squid can grow to extraordinary lengths. BBC Earth, 27 May 2016.
- Watts, J. (2015). Sea monsters. Diver, April 2015.
- Webb, D. (1897). A large decapod. The Nautilus 10: 108.
- Webb, W.F. (1945). A Catalog of Recent Mollusca from All Parts of the World. Walter F. Webb, St. Petersburg, Florida. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.1714
- Weis, R. & N. Mariotti (2007). A belemnite fauna from the Aalenian-Bajocian boundary beds of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (NE Paris Basin). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 46(2–3): 149–174.
- Weiss, R. (1995a). Scientists sink a sea monster tale. Masses of flesh didn't come from a colossal octopus, study concludes. The Washington Post , 2 April 1995. p. A18.
- Weiss, R. (1995b). Scientists say those sea blobs weren't monsters. Hartford Courant, 3 April 1995. p. 2.
- Westermann, G.E.G. (1966). The holotype (plastotype) of ?Titanites occidentalis Frebold from the Kootenay sandstone (Upper Jurassic) of southern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 3(5): 623–625. doi:10.1139/e66-043
- Westwood, B. (2015). Giant Squid. [radio broadcast] BBC Radio 4, 23 June 2015.
- Whitaker, I. (1986). North Atlantic sea-creatures in the King's Mirror (Konungs Skuggsjá). Polar Record 23(142): 3–13. doi:10.1017/S0032247400006756
- Wilder, B.G. (1872). A colossal octopus. The American Naturalist 6(12): 772.
- Wilson, A. (1877). On giants. The Gentleman's Magazine 241(1761): 335–348.
- Winkelmann, I., P.F. Campos, J. Strugnell, Y. Cherel, P.J. Smith, T. Kubodera, L. Allcock, M.-L. Kampmann, H. Schroeder, Á. Guerra, M. Norman, J. Finn, D. Ingrao, M. Clarke & M.T.P. Gilbert (2013). Mitochondrial genome diversity and population structure of the giant squid Architeuthis: genetics sheds new light on one of the most enigmatic marine species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280(1759): 20130273. doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0273
- Wolff, G.A. (1981). A beak key for eight eastern tropical Pacific cephalopod species with relationships between their beak dimensions and size. Fishery Bulletin 80(2): 357–370.
- Wolff, G.A. (1984). Identification and estimation of size from the beaks of 18 species of cephalopods from the Pacific Ocean. NOAA Technical Report NMFS 17, NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service.
- Wolman, D. (2002). Calls from the deep. New Scientist no. 2347, 15 June 2002. p. 35.
- Wong, K. (2000). Supersized Squid. Scientific American, 8 November 2000.
- Wood, F.G. (1957). St-Augustine six ton octopus. Mariner, September 1957. p. 4.
- Wood, F.G. (1971a). An octopus trilogy. Part 1: stupefying colossus of the deep. Natural History 80(3): 14–16, 18, 20–24.
- Wood, F.G. (1971b). An octopus trilogy. Part 3: in which Bahamian fishermen recount their adventures with the beast. Natural History 80(3): 84, 86–87.
- Wood, G.L. (1982). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Third edition. Guinness Superlatives, London. 252 pp. ISBN:0-85112-235-3.
- Wood, J.B. & R.K. O'Dor (2000). Do larger cephalopods live longer? Effects of temperature and phylogeny on interspecific comparisons of age and size at maturity. Marine Biology 136(1): 91–99. doi:10.1007/s002270050012
- Wormuth, J.H. (1976). The biogeography and numerical taxonomy of the oegopsid squid family Ommastrephidae in the Pacific Ocean. Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography 23: 1–96.
- Wright, C.W. & W.J. Kennedy (1980). Origin, evolution and systematics of the dwarf acanthoceratid Protacanthoceras Spath, 1923 (Cretaceous Ammonoidea). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Geology 34(2): 65–107.
- Xavier, J.C., P.G. Rodhouse, P.N. Trathan & A.G. Wood (1999). A Geographical Information System (GIS) Atlas of cephalopod distribution in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science 11(1): 61–62. doi:10.1017/S0954102099000097 [online supplementary data with maps]
- Yasuda, T. (2004). 日本近海における巨大エチゼンクラゲ Nemopilema nomurai の大発生について. [On the unusual occurrence of the giant medusa, Nemopilema nomurai in Japanese waters.] Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries 70(3): 380–386. NAID 110003145750 (in Japanese)
- Yong, E. (2015). How Big Are The Biggest Squid, Whales, Sharks, Jellyfish? Phenomena: Not Exactly Rocket Science, 13 January 2015.
- Young, E. (2003). Giant squid emerges from the ocean's deep. New Scientist no. 2390, 12 April 2003. p. 18.
- Young, R.E. & K.M. Mangold (2010). Megalocranchia Pfeffer, 1884. Tree of Life Web Project.
- Young, R.E., C.F.E. Roper & M. Vecchione (2015). Heteroteuthinae Appellof, 1898. Tree of Life Web Project.
- Yukhov, V.L. (1974). The discovery of giant squids. Priroda [1974](6): 60–63. (in Russian)
- Yukhov, V.L. (2014). Гігантські кальмари роду Architeuthis у Південному океані / Giant calmaries Architeuthis in the Southern ocean. [Hihantski kalmary rodu Architeuthis u Pivdennomu okeani.] Ukrainian Antarctic Journal 13: 242–253. (in Ukrainian)
- Zeidberg, L.D. (2004). Allometry measurements from in situ video recordings can determine the size and swimming speeds of juvenile and adult squid Loligo opalescens (Cephalopoda: Myopsida). The Journal of Experimental Biology 207(24): 4195–4203. doi:10.1242/jeb.01276
- Zeidler, W. (1981). A giant deep-sea squid, Taningia sp., from South Australian waters. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 105(4): 218.
- Zuyev, G., C. Nigmatullin, M. Chesalin & K.N. Nesis (2002). Main results of long-term worldwide studies on tropical nektonic oceanic squid genus Sthenoteuthis: an overview of the Soviet investigations. Bulletin of Marine Science 71(2): 1019–1060.
External links
|
|
|
![]() | Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod size.
Read more |