Range: Pacific, India, and Atlantic Oceans; Thought to be cosmopolitan Habitat: Deep ocean Size: Mantle up to 1 foot (30.5cm long; Including filaments, up to 23 feet (7m) long Diet: Crustaceans and fishes Threats: Unknown Life span: Unknown

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing bigfin squids. Since reclassified to their current classification in the late 1980s, there have only been about a dozen sightings of these elusive squids. Of course, it’s not easy to study animals that live thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface, and to top it off, these squids are fragile. In fact, it was believed for a long time that juveniles of these squids didn’t have the long trailing filaments seen in adults, though it’s now known that the juveniles reported without these long filaments were likely damaged in being brought up to the surface, losing their filaments in the process.

Bigfin squids get their common name because they have… well… big fins! These are used for swimming and help move the squids around. Something strange and what some have even called “alien” about these creatures is that they hold their limbs out at nearly 90 degree angles from their bodies. For a while, bigfin squids were only known to hold this position in open water with their heads oriented towards the ocean’s surface, however, it’s now known that bigfin squids will hold this posture horizontally to the ocean’s surface as well and even right up next to the sea floor. Why bigfin squids do this is still unknown. Some postulated that these squid hover just over the ocean floor as a means of hiding from predators. Others think it may be a different method of collecting food. It’s believed that their long trailing filaments are used to catch food.

These filaments are covered in teeny, tiny suction cups that make the filaments extra sticky. A bigfin squid’s diet may consist of small crustaceans and fishes. There has even been observation of a bigfin squid getting tangled up with underwater recording equipment and having a difficult time dislodging itself! Something unique to the bigfin squid is that it has been observed coiling these filaments up perhaps as a means of keeping them safe or even to transport food. The reason is unknown, however, bigfin squids are the only known squids to do this. Technically vampire squids do this, too, but as we discussed in our vampire squid episode, vampire squids aren’t technically squids.

While it can’t be known for sure without more information, these squids are currently believed to be cosmopolitan, or otherwise found in deep oceans worldwide as they’ve been observed in the Pacific, India, and Atlantic Oceans. There are at least two different species, though new information could show even more! In size, a bigfin squid’s mantle can reach up to a foot (30.5cm) in length. Including the filaments, from head to arm-tips, bigfin squids can reach up to 23 feet (7m) in length! Something noted in observations of bigfin squids in the wild is that their long, trailing filaments appear white in color while their bodies, including their fins, may be brown, orange, or pink. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this in the comments!

In more recent observations in Australian waters, bigfin squid have been found in much closer proximity to one another than previously observed. There are plenty of guesses as to why this is: perhaps the squid like this area, perhaps it had something to do with the speed of the vehicles being used, perhaps there was something to do with breeding going on. Currently, it’s unknown why this was seen. It’s also unknown how these squids reproduce and how long they live, so there is still plenty to learn about these creatures of the deep.

For more facts on bigfin squids, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!