Ecology and Life History
Little is known about the life of this creature, but it is believed to feed on prey such as chaetognatha, large fish such as the Patagonian toothfish, and other squid in the deep ocean using bioluminescence. The colossal squid is thought to have a slow metabolic rate, needing only around 30 g of prey daily. Estimates of its energetic demands suggest it is a slow-moving ambush predator, using its large eyes primarily for predator detection rather than active hunting.
Based on capture depths of a few specimens, and beaks found in sperm whale stomachs, the adult colossal squid ranges at least to a depth of 2.2 km (7,200 ft), and juveniles can go as deep as 1 km (3,300 ft). It is believed to be sexually dimorphic, with mature females generally being much larger than mature males, as is common in many species of invertebrates.
The squid's method of reproduction has not been observed, although some data on their reproduction can be inferred from anatomy. Since males lack an organ called a hectocotylus (an arm used in other cephalopods to transfer a spermatophore to the female), they probably use a penis instead, which would be used to directly implant sperm into females.
Many sperm whales carry scars on their backs believed to be caused by the hooks of colossal squid. Colossal squid are a major prey item for Antarctic sperm whales feeding in the Southern Ocean; 14% of the squid beaks found in the stomachs of these sperm whales are those of the colossal squid, which indicates colossal squid make up 77% of the biomass consumed by these whales. Many other animals also feed on this squid, including beaked whales (such as the southern bottlenose whale), pilot whales, southern elephant seals, Patagonian toothfish, sleeper sharks (Somniosus antarcticus), and albatrosses (e.g., the wandering and sooty albatrosses). However, beaks from mature adults have only been recovered from those animals large enough to take such prey (i.e. sperm whales and sleeper sharks), while the remaining predators are limited to eating juveniles or young adults.
Read more about this topic: Colossal Squid
Famous quotes containing the words ecology, life and/or history:
“... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
—Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)
“The city is always recruited from the country. The men in cities who are the centres of energy, the driving-wheels of trade, politics or practical arts, and the women of beauty and genius, are the children or grandchildren of farmers, and are spending the energies which their fathers’ hardy, silent life accumulated in frosty furrows in poverty, necessity and darkness.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The custard is setting; meanwhile
I not only have my own history to worry about
But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)