What Is the Difference Between a Colossal Squid Vs. a Giant Squid?
The main difference between a colossal squid and a giant squid is size. The colossal squid’s body is larger than the giant squid’s, but the colossal squid has shorter tentacles. Colossal squids can grow to more than 1,000 pounds, while giant squids only reach about 600. Colossal squids also have larger beaks than giant squids, and their limbs have sharp hooks that swivel.
Giant squids and colossal squids both have the largest eyes of any living creatures. These help them to detect light better in the extreme depths of the ocean, where they are known to live.
Male giant squids reach up to 33 feet in length, while females are larger and can grow to be 43 feet long. Colossal squids can reach up to 46 feet in length. The colossal squid’s mantle is believed to be nearly twice the length of the giant squid’s.
Evidence of both squid species has been found partially digested in the stomachs of sperm whales, and it is estimated that colossal squid make up as much as 77 percent of the Antarctic sperm whale’s diet. Sperm whales have commonly been found with scars on their bodies caused by the hooks in colossal squids’ tentacles.
