Monster Quest Giant Squid |WORK|
Karen Moses
MonsterQuest (sometimes written as Monsterquest or Monster Quest) is an American television series that originally aired from October 31, 2007 to March 24, 2010 on the History channel. Produced by Whitewolf Entertainment, the program deals with the search for various monsters of interest to the cryptozoology subculture and paranormal entities reportedly witnessed around the world. A spin-off show, MysteryQuest, which focuses on unsolved mysteries, premiered on September 16, 2009.
Academics have noted that media often uncritically disseminates information from the pseudoscience and subculture of cryptozoology, including newspapers that repeat false claims made by cryptozoologists or television shows that feature cryptozoologists as monster hunters (such as Monsterquest). Media coverage of purported "cryptids" often fails to provide more likely explanations, further propagating claims made by cryptozoologists.[4]
The closest relatives of the giant squid are thought to be the four obscure species of "neosquid" in the family Neoteuthidae, each of which belongs to its own monotypic genus, as with the giant squid. Together, both families comprise the superfamily Architeuthoidea.[10]
The giant squid is widespread, occurring in all of the world's oceans. It is usually found near continental and island slopes from the North Atlantic Ocean, especially Newfoundland, Norway, the northern British Isles, Spain and the oceanic islands of the Azores and Madeira, to the South Atlantic around southern Africa, the North Pacific around Japan, and the southwestern Pacific around New Zealand and Australia.[11] Specimens are rare in tropical and polar latitudes.
Like all squid, a giant squid has a mantle (torso), eight arms, and two longer tentacles (the longest known tentacles of any cephalopod). The arms and tentacles account for much of the squid's great length, making it much lighter than its chief predator, the sperm whale. Scientifically documented specimens have masses of hundreds, rather than thousands, of kilograms.[citation needed]
The inside surfaces of the arms and tentacles are lined with hundreds of subspherical suction cups, 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in) in diameter, each mounted on a stalk. The circumference of these suckers is lined with sharp, finely serrated rings of chitin.[13] The perforation of these teeth and the suction of the cups serve to attach the squid to its prey. It is common to find circular scars from the suckers on or close to the head of sperm whales that have attacked giant squid.[14]
Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater through an ammonium chloride solution which is found throughout their bodies and is lighter than seawater. This differs from the method of flotation used by most fish, which involves a gas-filled swim bladder. The solution tastes somewhat like salty liquorice/salmiak and makes giant squid unattractive for general human consumption.[citation needed]
Like all cephalopods, giant squid use organs called statocysts to sense their orientation and motion in water. The age of a giant squid can be determined by "growth rings" in the statocyst's statolith, similar to determining the age of a tree by counting its rings. Much of what is known about giant squid age is based on estimates of the growth rings and from undigested beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales.[citation needed]
The giant squid is the second-largest mollusc and one of the largest of all extant invertebrates. It is exceeded only by the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, which may have a mantle nearly twice as long. Several extinct cephalopods, such as the Cretaceous coleoid Yezoteuthis and Haboroteuthis,[20][21] and the Ordovician nautiloid Endoceras[22] may have grown even larger. Although the Cretaceous Tusoteuthis, with its 2 m (6 ft 6.7 in) long mantle, was once considered to grow to a size close to that of the giant squid (over 10 m (32.8 ft) including arms), this genus is likely doubtful. The largest specimen probably belonged to the genus Enchoteuthis, estimated to have short arms, with a total length of only 3 m (9.8 ft).[23]
Giant squid size, particularly total length, has often been exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching and even exceeding 20 m (66 ft) are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented.[3] According to giant squid expert Steve O'Shea, such lengths were likely achieved by greatly stretching the two tentacles like elastic bands.[3]
Based on the examination of 130 specimens and of beaks found inside sperm whales, giant squids' mantles are not known to exceed 2.25 m (7 ft 4.6 in).[3][4] Including the head and arms, but excluding the tentacles, the length very rarely exceeds 5 m (16 ft).[3] Maximum total length, when measured relaxed post mortem, is estimated at 12 m (39 ft) or 13 m (43 ft) for females and 10 m (33 ft) for males from the posterior fins to the tip of the two long tentacles.[2][3][4][5]
Little is known about the reproductive cycle of giant squid. They are thought to reach sexual maturity at about three years old; males reach sexual maturity at a smaller size than females. Females produce large quantities of eggs, sometimes more than 5 kg (11 lb), that average 0.5 to 1.4 mm (0.020 to 0.055 in) long and 0.3 to 0.7 mm (0.012 to 0.028 in) wide.[24] Females have a single median ovary in the rear end of the mantle cavity and paired, convoluted oviducts, where mature eggs pass exiting through the oviducal glands, then through the nidamental glands. As in other squid, these glands produce a gelatinous material used to keep the eggs together once they are laid.[25]
In males, as with most other cephalopods, the single, posterior testis produces sperm that move into a complex system of glands that manufacture the spermatophores. These are stored in the elongate sac, or Needham's sac, that terminates in the penis from which they are expelled during mating. The penis is prehensile, over 90 cm (35 in) long, and extends from inside the mantle. The two ventral arms on a male giant squid are hectocotylized, which means they are specialized to facilitate the fertilization of the female's eggs.[26]
How the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is much debated, as giant squid lack the hectocotylus used for reproduction in many other cephalopods. It may be transferred in sacs of spermatophores, called spermatangia, which the male injects into the female's arms.[27] This is suggested by a female specimen recently found in Tasmania,[28] having a small subsidiary tendril attached to the base of each arm.
Post-larval juveniles have been discovered in surface waters off New Zealand, with plans to capture more and maintain them in an aquarium to learn more about the creature.[29] Young giant squid specimens were found off the coast of southern Japan in 2013 and confirmed through genetic analysis.[30]
Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of giant squid individuals from all over the world has found that there is little variation between individuals across the globe (just 181 differing genetic base pairs out of 20,331). This suggests that there is only a single species of giant squid in the world. Squid larvae may be dispersed by ocean currents across vast distances.[8]
Recent studies have shown giant squid feed on deep-sea fish, such as the orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), and other squid species.[33][34] They catch prey using the two tentacles, gripping it with serrated sucker rings on the ends. Then they bring it toward the powerful beak, and shred it with the radula (tongue with small, file-like teeth) before it reaches the esophagus. They are believed to be solitary hunters, as only individual giant squid have been caught in fishing nets. Although the majority of giant squid caught by trawl in New Zealand waters have been associated with the local hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) fishery, hoki do not feature in the squid's diet. This suggests giant squid and hoki prey on the same animals.[33]
The known predators of adult giant squid include sperm whales, pilot whales,[35][36] southern sleeper sharks,[37] and in some regions killer whales.[38] Juveniles may fall prey to other large deep sea predators. Because sperm whales are skilled at locating giant squid, scientists have tried to observe them to study the squid. Giant squid have also been recently discovered to presumably steal food from each other;[39] in mid-to-late October 2016, a 9 m (30 ft) giant squid washed ashore in Galicia, Spain. The squid had been photographed alive by a tourist named Javier Ondicol shortly before its death, and examination of its corpse by the Coordinators for the Study and Protection of Marine Species (CEPESMA) indicates that the squid was attacked and mortally wounded by another giant squid, losing parts of its fins, and receiving damage to its mantle, one of its gills and losing an eye. The intact nature of the specimen indicates that the giant squid managed to escape its rival by slowly retreating to shallow water, where it died of its wounds. The incident is the second to be documented among Architeuthis recorded in Spain, with the other occurring in Villaviciosa. Evidence in the form of giant squid stomach contents containing beak fragments from other giant squid in Tasmania also supports the theory that the species is at least occasionally cannibalistic. Alternatively, such squid-on-squid attacks may be a result of competition for prey. These traits are seen in the Humboldt squid as well, indicating that cannibalism in large squid may be more common than originally thought.[40]
Scientists have been unable to determine the worldwide population of giant squid to any degree of accuracy. Estimates have been put together based on the number of giant squid beaks found in the stomachs of deceased sperm whales, a known predator of the giant squid, and the better known population of sperm whales. Based on such observations, it has been estimated that sperm whales consume between 4.3 and 131 million giant squid annually, implying that the giant squid population is likewise well into the millions, but more precise estimates have been elusive.[41]
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