Range: Antarctic Ocean Habitat: Deep ocean Size: Up to 45 feet (14m) long; 300 pounds (136kg) or more Diet: Toothfish and other deep-dwelling animals Threats: Sperm whales, sleeper sharks, marine mammals like elephant seals, birds like albatrosses Life span: Unknown

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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about colossal squid. It helps us colossally when you subscribe! Seth Shepherd made today’s giant request - thank you! Just to be clear, a colossal squid is not the same thing as a giant squid.

Believe it or not, these two deep sea dwelling beasts aren’t even from the same family of animals. Colossal squid are actually considered to be bigger than giant squid, and, in fact, are often cited as the largest living invertebrates in the world - at least that we know of. It’s guessed that colossal squid can reach 45 feet (14 meters) in length and weigh more than 300 pounds (136 kilograms). When compared to giant squid, colossal squid have larger mantles and shorter arms and tentacles. For clarification, the arms of squid are the eight shorter appendages; and the tentacles are the two longer ones with club-like structures on the end. You can usually tell these apart in squids because the tentacles only have suction cups on the club, though in colossal squid things get a little weird.

It’s long been noted that sperm whales bear scars across their blubbery bodies. For a long time, sailors wondered what unearthly giants beneath the waves could go up against some of the largest animals on earth. When first sighted, these gigantic squid were thought to be sea monsters, and legends arose of their boat breaking powers. Of course, we’ve learned a bit more about these animals since that time.

Colossal squid weren’t scientifically documented until the 1900s. Since then, we haven’t seen many, but we do know now that colossal squid have rotating hooks at the end of their tentacles, and three pronged spines at the ends of their arms - all perfectly designed for digging into whale skin, or anything else that happens to swim by. It’s thought that colossal squid drift slowly through the ocean’s depths and reach out for a meal when the opportunity arises. They’ve been known to eat toothfish and likely take other deep sea dwelling animals they can wrap their arms around. Like other squid, colossal squid eat through a beak-like mouth. Imagine being a sailor when whaling first starting and finding a giant bird-like beak inside the stomach of sperm whale!

It’s hypothesized that the giant eyes of colossal squid, which are thought to be the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom at almost ten inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, are not used for detecting prey, but for identifying large predators in nearby waters. Colossal squid are actually eaten by sperm whales along with sleeper sharks, and possibly other marine mammals like elephant seals as well as birds like albatrosses - though these would likely be from washed up carcasses or juveniles.

While there isn’t enough data to know the complete life cycle of colossal squid, it’s believed that these giant invertebrates spend the earlier parts of their lives in more shallow waters while adults live deeper. They are thought to exclusively live in Antarctic waters, and how they reproduce is still completely unknown.

For more facts on colossal squid, 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.