In 2012, a team of scientists comprising Edith Widder, marine biologist Steve O'Shea and zoologist Tsunemi Kubodera successfully filmed a live giant squid ( " Architeuthis dux " ) in its natural habitat.
32.
Gastronomes might argue for the more delectable bivalves-- oysters, scallops and clams-- but only one genus fulfills the old Romantic formula for the sublime by combining beauty with terror : Architeuthis, the giant squid.
33.
Paxton treated these last two size estimates as SLs as opposed to TLs because " squid do not generally leave their tentacles exposed except when grabbing prey and this appears to be the case for " Architeuthis " ".
34.
In a sense this squid, Architeuthis kirki, suggested the cephalopods for sale in fish markets ( usually a species called Loligo opalescens ) rather than the monsters preyed upon by sperm whales and described by Jules Verne and Herman Melville.
35.
It has been claimed that in November 2006 Cassell became the first person to film a giant squid in its natural environment, leading an expedition that filmed an " Architeuthis dux " with an estimated length of 40 feet in predatory behavior.
36.
As for the terror, humanity has been fabricating vicious intentions for Architeuthis since the first specimens washed ashore and inspired legends of the kraken and the sea serpent, as Richard Ellis exhaustively demonstrates in " The Search for the Giant Squid ."
37.
The giant squid ( " Architeuthis dux " ) was previously thought to be the largest squid, and while it is less massive and has a smaller mantle than the colossal squid, it may exceed the colossal squid in overall length including tentacles.
38.
Architeuthis, which can grow to a maximum ( known ) length of 60 feet, is one of the largest animals on earth, but we know next to nothing about it-- not its hunting and breeding habits, or its life-span, or even its geographical distribution.
39.
The "'giant squid "'( genus " "'Architeuthis " "') is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the mantle is about long ( more for females, less for males ), and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles ( but including head and arms ) rarely exceeds.
40.
:: Thanks, Architeuthis; I was certainly way off the mark with all of them . . . ( just to check,-ZYTS-rhymes with " kites " not " zits ", right ? ) I should add these to the articles themselves, on reflection . & mdash; Matt 15 : 59, 11 Jun 2004 ( UTC)
