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Thebuccal mass and beak of the giant squid stranded at Newburgh. |
Very little is known about the diet of giant squid. Most records of giant squid are of stranded animals and these invariably have empty stomachs. Giant squid that are caught in trawls, like the three specimens caught off the west coast of Ireland in 1995 do provide some information on what these animals eat.Even when squid are found with food in their stomach it is still very difficult to identify the contents. The beak and muscular buccal mass combine to macerate prey before the food is swallowed. This is very important because in the cephalopods the oesophagous passes through the brain, making it impossible for large items to be swallowed. Hence all squid and octopuschew their food thoroughly before swallowing. |
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The tentacle club of the giant squid stranded at Newburgh. |
Architeuthis may be sit and wait predators, using the extremely long tentacles to capture prey items.The limited data on Architeuthis diet suggests that, most other squids, it is an opportunistic predato feeding on a variety of fish, crustaceans and other cephalopods. The three giant squid caught in Irish waters in 1995 had a variety of prey in their stomachs including:horse mackerelsquid (Todarodes)prawn (Nephrops) |
Last Updated 28/4/2000
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