#41868: — 09/27  at  11:52 AM
Yeah, and what's really cool is colossal squid have hooks in the middle of at least some of their suckers, as well as the ring of "teeth" around them. Makes Architeuthis look like a sweetheart.

#41886: — 09/27  at  12:54 PM
Why couldn't they have found that when I was 10 years old? I just don't feel that my withered old (20-something) body is capable of producing the proper amount of awe.

So... does this now make the colossal squid the largest of all invertebrates?

#41894: GrrlScientist — 09/27  at  01:07 PM
Sorry to break this to you, but I don't think it'll fit into the bathtub.

#41897: — 09/27  at  01:19 PM
Cool! I wish Craig McClain had a link to the video.

#41908: tikistitch — 09/27  at  01:57 PM
Know what would make P.Z. *really* happy?

Locating a band of pirate squid.

#41912: Craig McClain — 09/27  at  02:41 PM
I am working on video. Please be patient. Largest invertebrate-probably. The only thing close would be the 40m long Crinoids from the fossil record, but most of its skeleton would be nonbiologically active carbonate skeleton.

#41922: — 09/27  at  04:01 PM
Second to the band of pirate squid ( or squid pirates):

The Pirate Vs. The Giant Squid

#41940: Ancarett — 09/27  at  06:51 PM
Still holding out for a pony, here. Though they do look interesting. But ponies are a bit better adapted to our geography (and yours!).

#41945: Interested — 09/27  at  08:15 PM
Giant Squid video footage captured for the first time?

If anyone else hasn't heard about it yet, here's a link... hope it works.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/science/27cnd-squid.html?hp&ex=1127880000&en=3fe80be6ccc23999&ei=5094&partner=homepage

#41946: Ereshkigal — 09/27  at  08:32 PM
Caught in a sex trap! Wait until James Dobson discovers this fact. All biology will be forbidden from study, not just evolution.

However, abstinence-only sex-ed classes could use this as another example of the dangers of sex.

#41962: Galgacus — 09/28  at  01:37 AM
Pictures from the Giant Squid film on the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4288772.stm

#41964: Joel — 09/28  at  01:58 AM
Damn! If H.P. Lovecraft were alive today, he'd dethrone Cthulhu!

I never thought of giant squid as cool. Whenever I think of something truly horrible, I think of giant squid lurking in the dark trenches of the ocean. And now we have this Colossal Squid, I can't sleep....

#41971: Bartholomew — 09/28  at  06:56 AM
Ever had dried squid? Goes well with beer, very popular here in Japan.

#41975: — 09/28  at  07:17 AM
All this stuff is news to me (ok, I'd heard about giant squid via Discovery Channel & similar) but the dates in the articles are odd. Why did it take almost a year for the Japanese footage to make the news? Was all the info on hold pending the publication in Royal Society B? And the colossal squid info is even older: McClain's blog is actually quoting a BBC article from February 2003.

Oh, and the Japanese researchers didn't use the "sex trap". Their bait was shrimp.

#41978: — 09/28  at  07:35 AM
This is the first I'd heard about the Japanese footage, but the colossal squid has been both in the news and on documentaries for about a year, yeah.

#41987: Craig McClain — 09/28  at  09:01 AM
Sidhe is absolutely right and Jack are both right. The colossal squid new is old. I recieve BBC updates and for some reason this came to me on early this week. I must have missed the original news from 2003 when I was out sea doing research. The pictures of the giant squid are from a year ago. Given the time to process the data, write the manuscript, get the paper through review process, the lag is not suprising. Can you imagine sitting on something like this for a year.

Thanks again Jack for bringing the data discrepancy to my attention.
-craig

#41988: Craig McClain — 09/28  at  09:07 AM
Sorry about the language in the last post.

Sidhe and Jack are both right...squid news...early on...out to sea...

This insomnia is killing me.

#42033: — 09/28  at  12:07 PM
Insomnia? Say no more. The miracle of sleep deprivation is when we *don't* make mistakes.

#42065: — 09/28  at  02:52 PM
I'm seeing some questioning of the 'biggest squid ever' claim here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=334885

#42272: — 09/30  at  10:54 AM
Arrrrgh. I've seen ye collosal with me own eyes Arrrrrgh. It attacked me boat on me way through the bermuda triangle. Arrrrrgh. It's suckers attached to me groin and gave me a better suckin than me monkey. Arrrrrrgh. I asked it to marry ye old pirate but she disappeared in to ye abyss. Arrrrrgh

#42533: Herazod — 10/03  at  10:52 AM
Well, I think it's cool as hell!

I have been fascinated with them while I was finishing my degree (zoology) and I did a big research paper on sperm whales.... This is like a story coming true! I think there has to be quite a number of huge unknown monsters down there... in the ocean, there's always room to grow, and if there's enough food, they will.. I wouldn't be completely surprised if there's still 60 foot sharks hiding down there...