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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Wed Sep 17, 2014, 05:14 AM Sep 2014

Scientists given rare glimpse of 770-lbs colossal squid

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/scientists-given-rare-glimpse-of-770-lbs-colossal-squid/



Kat Bolstad (L) of Auckland University works on a colossal squid with Aaron Evans of Otago University as it is defrosted at Te Papa labs in Wellington, New Zealand on September 16, 2014

Scientists given rare glimpse of 770-lbs colossal squid
Agence France-Presse
16 Sep 2014

Scientists said Tuesday a female colossal squid weighing an estimated 350 kilograms (770 lbs) and thought to be only the second intact specimen ever found was carrying eggs when discovered in the Antarctic.

The squid had been kept in optimum freezing conditions at the Te Papa museum in Wellington ever since it was brought back to New Zealand from the seas off the frozen continent during the southern hemisphere’s summer.

The colossal squid is thought to extend up to 4-5 metres (13-16 feet) from tip to tentacle and weigh up to 500 kilograms. Its relation, the giant squid, can grow a lot longer but is much more spindly.

This specimen, like other octopus and squid species, has three hearts — one to pump blood around the body and two for its gills (lungs) — and is estimated to be about 3.5 metres in length.
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