Very large squid, ID uncertain, any takers?

OB

Colossal Squid
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I also came accross this site, showing a very large squid, afloat in the water, off Florida. It was not retrieved, but I would be certain to say that it is not Architeuthis, but it might be Onykia, yet these are known from much higher latitudes.... hmm.... what to make of this... Is that a Gladius I see before me?

May_20_squid_good_shot.jpg
 
Kat, although I'd expect it to be stockier or shorter, perhaps because of the fins having dropped off, might Onykia aequatorialis still be a contender? The "flap" covering part of the posterior gladius (if that's what I'm seeing) looks positively "finny", but that would make little sense...
 
PS: It might also be the gladius is "dropping out" of the squid's posterior, making it appear longer than it would've been in vivo?
 
It's been a while since I've posted anything on this site, but I'll take a stab at it.

It's definitely not an Architeuthis. They're a lot skinnier.

Running it through the SI decapodiform key I don't know if it's an onychoteuthid, but the onychoteuthids don't show up in the results.

If those things on its arms are hooks, I'd wager it's a cranchiid, and I can't tell if it's got tentacles or it could be an octopoteuthid.

EDIT: I think that's the gladial rostrum poking from the back of the mantle!

EDIT 2: Could be an Architeuthis if the body is longer than that.
 
Hi again NB! I'd still wager against Architeuthis, if alone based on the eye as seen in this particular pic; it'd be expected to be significantly larger. Not a cranchiid, way different eye morphology, altogether. Plus, even the larger cranchiids for the most part are transparent, and this is no colossal.

Considering Onykia aequatorialis, the holotype shows much shorter arms, so I guess that's ruled out, as well....

This one springs to mind, as well....

 
I'd say "Asperoteuthis", if the *apparent* gladius wasn't broad, as much as tapered.... At least the arm length would make sense... Just compare with this recent find off the Cayman islands.

cayman_Asperoteuthis.jpg
 
OK, I'm going for Asperoteuthis... I am currently convincing myself the "gladius" actually has the posterior fins still attached, with the skin abraded, giving this ghostish white appearance. Without too much imagination you can actually see the central reddish rodlike tail end in the first picture. See this specimen for reference. Yes, it has a double fin....

asperoacanfull1.300a.jpg
 
Cool! Aspero is a good guess; another possibility would be Grimalditeuthis, which also has double fins, if we're interpreting the tissue we see at the end correctly, but I need to check its max size as the website says this specimen was nine feet. ( :roll: ? ) Would be nice to have a better look at the tentacles, but in any case I agree that it's pretty un-Archi-like.
 
Grimalditeuthis certainly crossed my mind as well, but with the arms being long as they are and the general "non-gelatinous" presentation in this specimen, I'd have a problem with that. Double finned Joubiniteuthis, as successfully ID'ed by Neurobadger on this thread, doesn't grow to these sizes, I'm sure, no?

PS: It's always funny to read back one's original ramblings at the start of a thread like this and see (really uncalled for) species and genera enter and exit the stage.

Plus, another smaller Aspero for your perusal, ML is around 80 cm, taken from the infamous "nifty" site, of yore....

shichikuika1-2.jpg


The site also used to host a picture of a huge red squid at the surface, identified by some as Megalocrachia. I wonder whether that pic will ever resurface, as I'm not wholly convinced of said ID, but it appeared to be a formidable creature.
 

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