The Colossal squid was first described in 1925 from the stomach specimens of a commercially captured sperm whale. A century later, an international trip captured the first confirmed video of this species in its natural habitat: a 30 -centimeter youth copy, 600 meters deep near the South Sandwich Islands.
The colossal squid can reach seven meters in length and weigh up to 500 kilograms, which makes it the heaviest invertebrate of the planet. However, little is known about your life cycle. The image of a young colossal squid in the water column was a fortuitous sighting, such as many observations of deep water squid.
It was seen during the live broadcast of “Divestream” of a vehicle remotely operated during the expedition associated with the Schmidt Ocean Institute and Ocean Census in search of new species and habitats of deep water at the southern end of the Atlantic, focusing mainly on the seabed.
Those who tune in the transmission had the remarkable experience of seeing a living colossal squid in their deep water home, although their identity was not confirmed until the high definition material could be reviewed later.
Predators such as whales and sea birds remain one of our best sources of information about colossal squid ( Mesonychotuthis Hamilton ) because they are much better than us when finding it.
This partly explains why we just filmed this species in its natural habitat. These animals not only live in a huge, dark and three -dimensional environment, but they probably also actively avoid us.
Most of our deep water exploration equipment are large, noisy and use bright lights if we try to film animals. But colossal squid can detect and avoid sperm whales that are immersed, who probably produce a powerful light signal when descending and disturbing bioluminescent animals.
The most capable squid to avoid these predators have transmitted their genes for millions of years. This leaves us with a current population of visually acute animals, probably repellent of light and capable of detecting a light signal to many meters away.
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The delicate beauty of the animals of the marine depths
The Colossal squid belongs to the Cristal Calamar Family (Cranchiidae). Three species of glass squids are known in the Antarctic Ocean, but it may be difficult to distinguish them in the camera.
The researchers of the Kolossal organization, who were aimed at filming the Colossal squid, observed a similar crystal squid during their fourth Antarctic mission in 2023. But as the characteristic features necessary to identify a colossal squid (hooks at the ends of the two long tentacles and in the middle of each of the eight most short arms) they were not clearly visible, their exact identity is still confirmed.
In the images of the Schmidt Oceanographic Institute, hooks can be seen in the middle part of the arm. And in this young specimen, the resemblance to other glass squid is also evident. With age and size, colossal squid is likely to lose their transparency and become a much greater anomaly within the family.
Although many will have the idea of a “small colossal” squid, this video shows a beauty shared by many deep water animals, in contrast to exaggerated advertising about monsters and click -click titles of “nightmare things” that we see too often.
This colossal squid looks like a delicate glass sculpture, with fins from a musculature so fine that they are barely visible. He has bright and iridescent and graceful arms that extend from the head.
In its full size, the colossal squid can be a formidable predator, with its robust arms and its variety of sharp hooks, capable of catching black hakes two meters long. But in our first confirmed vision of him in his natural habitat, in the marine depths, we can marvel at the elegance of this animal, which thrives in an environment where humans require so much technology even to visit it remotely.
Stranger than science fiction
Until recently, few people could participate in the exploration of marine depths. But now, anyone with Internet connection can be present while we explore these habitats and observe animals for the first time.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of marine depths. They house hundreds of thousands of species not yet discovered, it is probably where life originated on Earth and constitutes 95 % of the habitable space available on our planet.
It contains more splendid and strange animals than our most creative science fiction imaginations. This includes squids that at first seem small bulbs and then become true giants; colonies of individuals who live and contribute to the success of the group; Animals where males (often parasites) are more small orders than females.
This first confirmed sighting of a colossal squid inspires us and reminds us how much we have to learn.
*Kat Bolstad is an associate professor of Environmental Sciences, Technological University of Auckland
This article was originally published in The Conversation
