Living Architeuthis photos: A summary

The recent photos of the captured Architeuthis are not the first photos of a living specimen. Here is a brief resume of images of living specimens that have been seen so far. All will be familiar to regular TONMO readers over the last couple of years, but I hope this will be of some interest to any new readers who may not have seen these pictures.

The following series of photos were taken of an Architeuthis that was caught by fishermen on Jan 15th 2002 and towed into a harbour at Goshiki Beach, Amino-cho, Kyoto, Japan. The specimen was roped but did not survive the night. It is currently on display at the National Science Museum in Japan. There has been fairly convincing speculation on this site that the eye has been digitally altered. The original images can be seen at:

http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/kaiyo/2-topicnews/news/2002/02-02-01/mega-squid/mega-squid-01.html

The third image has no details attached but probably depicts an Architeuthis (unconfirmed) as baited by a fishing boat. It was taken in Japanese waters but no details are known as to the image's origin or date, any help appreciated. The original image can be seen at:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/ozok/ika-story2.htm

The next couple of photos are from Dr Kubodera and Mori’s expedition to film a giant squid, they were taken at a depth of 900m off the coast of the Bonin islands 670miles south off Tokyo in 30 Sept 2004. An 8m Architeuthis was captured on a baited line and a remote camera photographed the bait over a sequence of 500 photographs. The ensnared giant squid was captured and struggled for four hours before it escaped, one tentacle being torn off on the baited hook. This discovery reached international proportions as news agencies reported this discovery to great interest.

The final couple of photographs were extracted from a video film taken by Dr Kubodera on December 4th 2006. An Architeuthis was caught by hook and line 600 miles off the coast of Japan, baited by another squid. The animal, a 24-ft female, died during the process of fishing, the carcass being hauled aboard the fishing vessel and retrieved for the purposes of study.

Phil -- this is outstanding! Also want to provide links to the most popular TONMO.com threads over the years on the topic of living GS photos, for anyone who wants to peruse the discussions -- there are MANY more threads on Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis in general (such as beached/preserved specimens), but there are the most pertinent with regard to them being observed alive:

Living Architeuthis Photo (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1308) - 10/4/2003

Living GS photo (Japan '03) text translated at last! (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4489) - 7/20/2005

The NY Times is saying that two Japanese Scientists have caught a giant squid on film (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4858) - 7/27/2005

Ika, Anyone? (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4872) - 7/29/2005

Editorial: The '05 Living Architeuthis Photos (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4886) - 10/1/2005

I know its been threaded to death, but Giant squid finally seen! (rant included) (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4904) - 10/3/2005

NY Times Editorial re: Living Giant Squid (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4931) - 10/5/2005

Collosal squid caught "alive" (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4949) - 10/9/2005

I always wondered about this photo... (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6444) - 4/24/2006

New Giant Squid Video Reported on Reuters! (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8373) - 12/22/2006

These photos are amazing... I've been so excited to read about the new capture... does anyone have a link or know where to find the actual footage of the Architeuthis capture?

These photos are amazing... I've been so excited to read about the new capture... does anyone have a link or know where to find the actual footage of the Architeuthis capture?

:welcome: to TONMO! Pharyngula posted another clip (http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/12/capture_of_the_giant_squid.php) that I hadn't seen before, although it show too much more than the links above...

p.s. does the "nd" at the end of your name stand for Neil Diamond? :diamond_trans: Just curious...

haha, no... sorry to disappoint! it just stands for notre dame... my university.

thanks for the welcome though, and the clip!

Well, thank god it's not Neil. :D

Oh, and good stuff Phil, good to see all that info compiled neatly into a single thread. Much easier when searching for info.

An apocryphal entry - or is it?

Unfortunately no background is known to the below photograph other than it was taken in Japanese waters a couple of years ago. Whatever it is, it is clearly a very large squid chasing a bait squid, Thysanoteuthis, on a hook. Architeuthis has not been discounted at all, but I don't think a definite conclusion has been drawn. (Please correct me if I am wrong!)

Original link: http://homepage1.nifty.com/ozok/ika-story2.htm

Discussion: http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1308

The two slightly out-of-focus images are two that we believe are from the same sequence, but cannot be certain. (Thanks to Clem for enhancing these images).

I definitely (still) consider this to be Architeuthis, but that's morphology based only.

OK, this thread is way cool..! I absolutely love architeuthis, that animal is so ugly and so beautiful at the same time. Most facinating creature on Gods Green Earth :wink:
Gotta love squid..!

Wow, these pictures are really interesting, especially the Kyoto ones...

...wow...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!