# Not-so-"Giant" squid?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 10, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982 "2008-09-10T19:44:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982/1 "2008-09-10T19:44:26Z")

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I may be mis-remembering my facts, but weren’t the carcasses of giant/colossal squid that washed up on shore in the 19th century supposed to be a whole lot bigger than the ones that we have found recently? I thought that the biggest squids (the beached carcasses from the late 1800s, in Newfoundland, I think) ranged about 60 feet in total length. The ones we have seen lately are plenty big, of course, but nowhere near the 50-60 foot monsters of yore!

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982/2 "2008-09-10T20:18:53Z")

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As it happens, I have a copy of Ellis’ **The Search for the Giant Squid** at my desk.

Checking the reported measurements in the appendix, it seems most larger recovered Architeuthis specimens were 25-35 long, with a few outliers to the 55 foot length.

Largest individual is 57’, from New Zealand in 1887.

My guess is that your impressions were incorect

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982/3 "2008-09-10T20:24:04Z")

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Not very many carcasses of colossal squid have ever been examined by science. We know that they can be as long as 46 feet long and maybe a little bigger. That seems close enough for government work to me. I still want one to attack a small ship I was in. Squid can be evil and very aggressive.

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**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-giant-squid/462982/4 "2008-09-10T21:10:13Z")

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To me the numbers are always a little misleading – “50 feet long” is mostly accounted for by the squid’s two arms. The “body” of the squid is a small fraction of that length. So if you chop off the arms and tentacles, the squid is more car-sized than whale-sized.

It’s still big, but…

Also, I seem to remember that the arm length is difficult to measure because they are stretchy. It is tough to get them straight without stretching them beyond their true length.