Fishermen once told tales of a giant sea monster, the kraken.
That dragged men from their boats to their death, drowning them at the bottom of the ocean.
Ever since its discovery, there has been considerable speculation as to its maximum size
We now know the kraken is real; the stories referring to species of giant squid.
And while it’s highly unlikely the squid are capable of killing fishermen, they are huge, among the largest invertebrates known.
What we don’t still know, however, is just how big giant squid grow.
Mysterious animals
Giant squid remain one of the most enigmatic large animals on the planet.
Strandings of specimens recognisable as Architeuthis dux, which is thought to be the longest of all squid, date back to 1639 in Europe, but a giant squid was only first photographed alive in its natural environment in 2004.
Giant squid washed ashore (Credit: Conrad Maufe/naturepl.com)
“Ever since its discovery, there has been considerable speculation as to its maximum size,” says biologist Dr Chris Paxton University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK.
In an attempt to discover just how long they can grow, he has reviewed known A. dux specimens, as part of an analysis published in the Journal of Zoology.
This included historical and anecdotal reports of giant squid seen from boats, remains washed up on shores, and even body parts found within the stomachs of sperm whales, which are thought to hunt and eat the giant cephalopods.
In all, some 460 giant squid specimens have been measured in some way.
Astonishing sightings
The supposed largest squid sighted was an astonishing 53 metres long, spotted off the Maldive islands during World War II from the side of an Admiralty trawler at night by a man called J.D Starkey.
But many of these measurements can be dismissed.
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