Nature 447:307–311Ĭhapelle G, Peck LS (1999) Polar gigantism dictated by oxygen availability. New Zeal J Zool 31:15–21īrandt A, Gooday AJ, Brandão SN, Brix S, Brökeland W, Cedhagen T, Choudhury M, Cornelius N, Danis B, De Mesel I (2007) First insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of the Southern Ocean deep sea. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 15:121–142īolstad KS, O’Shea S (2004) Gut contents of a giant squid Architeuthis dux (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) from New Zealand waters. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 32:241–304Ītkinson D (1994) Temperature and organism size-a biological law for ectotherms? Adv Ecol Res 25:1–58īarnes DKA, Hodgson DA, Convey P, Allen CS, Clarke A (2006) Incursion and excursion of Antarctic biota: past, present and future. Ecol Entomol 6:645–650Īrntz WE, Brey T, A. Antarctic Sci 16:263–275Īrnett AE, Gotelli NJ (2003) Bergmannʼs rule in larval ant lions: testing the starvation resistance hypothesis. Bull Mar Sci 71:97–108Īrata J, Robertson G, Valencia J, Xavier J, Eacute C, Moreno CA (2004) Diet of grey-headed albatrosses at the Diego Ramírez Islands, Chile: ecological implications. Polar Biol 38:631–641Īnderson CIH, Rodhouse PG (2002) Distribution of juvenile squid in the Scotia Sea in relation to regional oceanography. The study of this unique invertebrate giant constitutes a valuable source of insight into the biophysical principles behind body-size evolution.Īlvito PM, Rosa R, Phillips RA, Cherel Y, Ceia F, Guerreiro M, Seco J, Baeta A, Vieira RP, Xavier JC (2015) Cephalopods in the diet of nonbreeding black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses from South Georgia. Its eyes, the largest on the planet, seem to have evolved to detect very large predators (e.g., sperm whales) rather than to detect prey at long distances. It is assumed that this squid is not capable of high-speed predator–prey interactions, but it is rather an ambush predator. Stable isotopic analysis places the colossal squid as one of the top predators in the SO. hamiltoni is presently reported from the diets of 17 different predator species, comprising penguins and other seabirds, fishes and marine mammals, and may feed on various prey types, including myctophids, Patagonian toothfish, sleeper sharks and other squid. ![]() ![]() The maximum weight recorded so far was 495 kg. ![]() Thus, this giant spends most of its life in the meso- and bathypelagic realms, where it can reach a total length of 6 m. Small juveniles (<40 mm mantle length) are mainly found from the surface to 500 m, and the late juvenile stages are assumed to undergo ontogenetic descent to depths reaching 2000 m. It is considered to be endemic in the Southern Ocean (SO) with a circumpolar distribution spreading from the Antarctic continent up to the Sub-Antarctic Front. The present study aims to review the current biological knowledge on this squid. The colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (Robson 1925) is the largest (heaviest) living invertebrate and although it is preyed upon by many top predators, its basic biology and ecology remain one of the ocean’s great mysteries.
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