Beast from the deep spills its guts about life below

Tag : Squid Rings

IF THIS giant squid was cut up into calamari rings, they wouldprobably be the size of car tyres.
But as the creature carries ammonia in its flesh, it is doubtfulanyone would find the flavour appealing.
"It would taste like window cleaner if you ate it," says MuseumVictoria squid expert, Mark Norman.
Dr Norman yesterday led a team of scientists in dissecting the245-kilogram squid, which was caught in a fishing net last monthnear Portland.
Although its tentacles have broken off, it is estimated thecreature would have once stretched out to between 12 and 15 metresin length.
Weighing 30 kilograms less than the largest giant squid ever found,it is the biggest of these animals Australian researchers have comeacross.
While stressing that his team would prefer that the squid was stillalive, Dr Norman said samples taken from it would help scientistsaround the world learn more about these mysterious creatures of thedeep.
DNA from collected tissues will provide clues about population sizeand the number of different giant squid species.
Scientists hope to obtain information about its diet from studyingits digestive gland and stomach contents, and estimate its age byanalysing curves on its beak.
The scientists' scalpel also uncovered a relatively small ovary,which meant the squid was a young female. If she had reachedmaturity, she would have been able to produce between 3 and 6million eggs and potentially grown to weigh up to 300 kilograms.
Giant squids, usually found at depths of 500 to 1500 metres, have anumber of curious anatomical features, including three hearts, blueblood and a doughnut-shaped brain.
Their closest relatives are snails, clams and mussels, and theyshoot out black ink that acts like a "James Bond smokescreen" toescape predators.
"Deep sea in general is so fascinating because you don't have totravel to other planets to find alien creatures," Dr Norman said."They're these creatures of myth and legend, and that just blowspeople away."
Although museum staff have yet to name this giant squid, thefishing crew that caught it had dubbed it "Huddo", after ascientist on board their boat named Russell Hudson.
In a museum-first, the dissection was performed in front of a liveaudience, and it is estimated thousands of people caught a glimpseof a rare moment in science.
They included Glen Iris mother Alison Wright and daughters Lily,15, and Alexandra, 11. "It was pretty cool to see it all, seeingthe insides," Lily said. "And the smell wasn't too bad."
The squid will be stitched back together and displayed at themuseum.
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