Mollusca · mollusks

Giant squid

Architeuthis dux

Architeuthidae · giant squidsIUCN: Least Concern
Giant squid
Photo: NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A deep-sea squid of legend, first filmed alive in its habitat in 2012.

Fun factIts eyes, up to 27 cm across, are among the largest in the animal kingdom.

Waters
Worldwide
Depth zone
Twilight zone, 200–1,000 m, Deep sea & continental slope
Diet
Deep-sea fish & squid
Size
Up to 13 m

Classification

Mollusca › Cephalopoda › Oegopsida › Architeuthidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Protostomia protostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening usually becomes the mouth
    • Main nerve cord runs along the belly (ventral)
    • Includes mollusks, worms, and arthropods
  4. Clade Spiralia mollusks, worms & kin
    • Embryos usually divide in a spiral pattern (spiral cleavage)
    • Many have a swimming larva with a band of cilia (trochophore)
    • Includes mollusks and segmented worms
  5. Phylum Mollusca mollusks
    • Soft body with a muscular foot and a fold of tissue (mantle) that makes the shell
    • Most have a rasping, tongue-like ribbon of teeth (radula)
    • Includes snails, clams, octopuses, and chitons
  6. Class Cephalopoda cephalopods
    • Foot is modified into arms and tentacles around the head
    • Large brains and camera-like eyes
    • Jet propulsion by squirting water through a funnel (siphon)
  7. Subclass Coleoidea octopuses, squids & cuttlefish
    • Shell is internal, reduced, or absent
    • Most have an ink sac and color-changing skin cells (chromatophores)
    • Includes octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish
  8. Superorder Decapodiformes squids & cuttlefish
    • Ten appendages: eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles
    • Includes squids, cuttlefish, and bobtail squids
  9. Order Oegopsida open-ocean squids
    • Open-ocean squids whose eyes have no covering membrane
    • Many have hooks on their arms or tentacles
  10. Family Architeuthidae giant squids
    • Giant squids with very long feeding tentacles
    • Among the largest eyes of any animal
  11. Genus Architeuthis
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  12. Species Architeuthis dux Giant squid

Closest relatives in the guide