Australian scientists were on Monday studying a giant squid which washed up on a Tasmanian beach at the weekend and could be a new species of the deep sea Leviathan, officials said.
The 200 kilogram squid was found on a beach near Hobart and was taken by trailer to the Tasmanian Museum here on Monday.
The museum’s senior curator of zoology, David Pemberton, said the squid appeared unique because of long, thin flaps of muscle attached to each of its eight arms — something he had never encountered before.
Pemberton said the ”keels” could indicate a new species of squid and he was consulting scientists in New Zealand, who have more experience with the rare creatures.
Although still fresh, the squid had lost its two tentacles, which Pemberton said would have been about 15 meters long.
Of the dozens of species of large squid in the world’s oceans, none comes close to the giant squid in size.
It has never been seen alive and remains the stuff of nightmares, demonised in literature such as Jules Verne’s 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea.
The largest invertebrate on the planet, the giant squid is a member of the class Cephalopoda, which includes octopus, nautilus, and extinct ammonites. – Sapa-AFP