Quote

"If we and the rest of the backboned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the land's ecosystems would collapse."
David Attenborough

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mollusc Giants Part 4- Colossal Squid

Even bigger than the 'giant squid' Architeuthis, the Colossal Squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni is the current title holder for biggest mollusc (and invertebrate) on Earth. The biggest specimen was 10m long and about 500kg in weight but its thought this was a sub-adult animal so the final maximum could be much more. Its beak was significantly smaller than many found in sperm whale stomachs indicating that there are some real monsters down there waiting to be found. 
More cool stuff to come on Sperm Whales and Giant Squid in future posts- I promise!

No comments:

Post a Comment