Talk:List of Colossal Squid specimens and sightings

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[edit] some references from Nixon & Young

There are a number of specimens listed in Nixon & Young, and it's hard to tell which ones correspond to which on this list. In particular, Rodhouse & Clarke 1985 seem to list animals with 1050 mm ML and 1170 mm ML, which are presumably(?) 2 different animals. I don't have the actual paper to refer to.

For reference, should someone want to track this down, here are the relevant 2 paragraphs and corresponding refs from Nixon & Young The Brains and Lives of Cephalopods Oxford U press 2003:

Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (Fig. 25.27) reaches a large size. One of 1170 mm ML was taken in a haul sampling a depth horizon from 2300-2000 m, and is the only adult female recorded so far (Rodhouse & Clarke 1985). It is restricted to Antarctic waters, where the subtropical convergence may act as a boundary. Its vertical distribution is little known, although a large specimen was caught in an opening/closing net at 2000 m (Clarke 1986), and others from the surface to 500 m depth.

The smallest specimens (4.8-27.9 mm ML) caught in nets were apparently newly hatched since fragments of the chorion remained attached to their mantles. Many changes in shape and form take place during the early stages of the life cycle (McSweeny 1970, Rodhouse and Clarke 1985). A further specimen of 1050 mm ML was captured in a haul sampling a depth horizon of 2000 - 2200 m (M.R. Clarke, pers. comm.). These squids are known to reach 2500 mm ML (N.A. Voss 1980). From the sizes of beaks recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales it has been estimated that Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni may exceed 4000 mm ML (Clarke 1986).

from bibliography:

Clarke 1986 A Handbook for the Identification of Cephalopod Beaks Clarendon Press, Oxford

McSweeny 1970 Description of the juvenile form of the Antarctic squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson. Malacologia, 10, 323-32

Rodhouse and Clarke 1986 Growth and distribution of young Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): Am Antarctic squid. Vie et Milieu, 35, 222-30.

N.A. Voss 1980 A generic revision of the Cranchiidae (Cephalopoda; Oegopsida). Bulletin of Marine Science, 30, 365-412 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Montyy0 (talk • contribs) 00:46, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

Interesting stuff! I'll try to look into these records. This list certainly needs a lot of work... Mgiganteus1 00:57, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] BBC article

Editors of this page may be interested in NZ fishermen land colossal squid article from the BBC.--Alf melmac 13:19, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TONMO.com references this list

Hi -- just a note to say that TONMO.com defers to this list as the definitive resource on Colossal Squid strandings. Related link here: http://www.tonmo.com/science/public/squidlist.php Tonmo 13:23, 9 September 2007 (UTC)