Giant squid
Amazing fact
A giant squid’s eyes can grow as large as a human head.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A giant squid’s eyes can grow as large as a human head.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Giant squid
- Scientific name
- Architeuthis dux
- Japanese name
- ダイオウイカ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Cephalopoda
- Order
- Oegopsida
- Family
- Architeuthidae
- Genus
- Architeuthis
A huge squid of the deep sea. Because it rarely appears where people are, its way of life long remained a mystery.
Its muscles contain cells holding ammonia, which help it stay buoyant in the deep sea.
It is thought to attack prey with its feeding tentacles and to eat squid smaller than itself.
How the Giant squid lives
Researchers consider it almost certain that it feeds in midwater during the day. There are also records of it eating small grenadiers. It is thought to curl its feeding tentacles around prey and draw it toward its mouth.
国立科学博物館Basic data
- Diet
- Small grenadiers
Where the Giant squid has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ダイオウイカ
- 简体中文
- 巨乌贼
- 繁體中文
- 巨烏賊
- 한국어
- 대왕오징어
- Français
- Calamar Géant
- Deutsch
- Riesenkalmar
- Português (Brasil)
- Lula-gigante
- Italiano
- Calamaro gigante
- العربية
- حبار عملاق
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Cumi-cumi raksasa
- Tiếng Việt
- Mực khổng lồ
- Русский
- Гигантский кальмар
- ไทย
- ปลาหมึกยักษ์
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 国立科学博物館 — ダイオウイカ 深海のミステリーChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Architeuthis duxChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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