Colossal squid – 990 pounds

Very interesting fishing news: Fishermen in New Zealand may have captured the largest Colossal squid ever recorded. It may be the first time a Colossal squid has been seen alive.  The beast, weighing 450 kilograms (990 pounds), was eating a Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) hooked by fishermen when it was captured in the deep, frigid waters in the Ross Sea near Antarctica. The squid was reported to be 10 meters (33 feet) in length and took more than two hours to land.

• Colossal squid are only known from a few specimens, estimates put its maximum size at 12 to 14 metres. It is the largest known squid species and the world’s largest invertebrate. It is believed to have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom.
• Analysis of sperm whale stomachs suggests the colossal squid makes up three quarters of the diet of large sperm whales and it is likely there are large numbers of them in Antarctic waters.
• Only a handful of colossal squid have been sighted. One was caught in the net of a Russian trawler in the Ross Sea at depth of 760m in 1981, another found near the surface in 2003 and another near South Georgia Island was brought up from a depth of 1625 metres on a toothfish longline in 2005.
• It is believed that colossal squid hunt large fish, such as toothfish, and other squid.