The Bigfin Squid

the bigfin squid

yeah, this guy - you've probably seen this video, and it is most definitely real.

they're cephalopods (which means "head-feet" in greek), just like octopuses. their arms and tentacles (which create an appendage that looks quite like an elbow) are thought to be 13ft to 26ft (4m to 8m) long.

we know very little else about them. but keep reading, and i'll tell you what we do know.

they were first recorded in 1907, but the specimen didn't offer much information as to what was actually being looking at. in the 1980s we got a few more specimens, researched by michael vecchione and richard young. they were all young and without long arms, so the mantle length looked huge on them (hence the name!). they then declared the new family magnapinnidae for the big fin squid.

the sightings are much more interesting.

they were first visually seen by submersible (similar to a submarine) nautile in 1988, off the coast of north brazil, at a depth of 15,535ft (4,735m), which is quite far into the abyssal zone (abyssopelagic) of the deep sea - it is pitch black down there.

six more were seen between 1988 and 2000, but all the footage was pretty short and blurry, so the media didn't really care. however, in 2001, the rov tiburon got some fantastic footage in hawaii, and it gained a lot of attention.

anatomically, they are really unique compared to other cephalopods, namely due to the lengths of the arms and tentacles and the "elbows". furthermore, scientists have no idea how they feed: they're guessing that either the squid drag their arms and tentacles along the seafloor and grab organisms, or that they wait for prey to accidentally go into their arms and then trap them there - not terrifying at all.

and that's all we know! thank you for reading this far, here's an extra pic of this absolute hell-spawn.