Giant Squid
Giant Squid
Invertebrate
A mysterious deep-sea giant with the largest eyes of any known animal and long tentacles reaching far into the dark.
💡 Fun Facts
- Measured to around 13 metres, it is one of the longest animals — but most of that is its two long feeding tentacles; its main body is only about 2 metres.
- It has the largest eyes of any known animal, roughly 25 centimetres across, to gather the faintest light in the dark deep (a size shared with its cousin the colossal squid).
- It lives so deep that it is almost never seen alive, and it is a favourite meal of the sperm whale.
Name Story
Architeuthis dux
means “the chief squid, the commander”
What does its name mean?
- Architeuthis — chief / first squidGreek arkhi- 'chief, first' + teuthis 'squid'
- dux — leader, commanderLatin dux 'leader'
Its name crowns it twice over: 'the chief squid' and 'the commander' — the ruler of all squids, hidden away in the deep sea.