The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), also called diablo rojo (red devil) or pota, jumbo flying squid, and jumbo squid, is a large predatory squid that inhabits the waters of the Humboldt current in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
It is regarded as the only known species of the genus Dosidicus of the subfamily Ommastrephinae under the family Ommastrephidae.
Humboldt squid typically reaches a mantle length of 4 ft 11 in (1.5 m), making it the largest member of its family. They are very aggressive towards humans, though this behavior might have developed during feeding times.
Like other members of the subfamily Ommastrephinae, they are known to possess bioluminescent photophores and can change body coloration (metachrosis).
They rapidly flashed white and red while hunting, which earned them the name Diablo Rojo (Spanish for the red devil) among fishermen.
These chromatophores (of different sizes and belonging to more than one set) may rapidly cycle through colors other than white and red, flashing too quickly for the human eye to see the transitions. They have a short lifespan of about 1 to 2 years.
They are mostly found at depths of 660 – 2,300 ft (200 – 700 m) from Tierra del Feugo to California.
This species spreads north into the Pacific Northwest, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia waters. They are fished commercially in Peru and Mexico.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Cephalopoda |
| Order | Oegopsida |
| Family | Ommastrephidae |
| Subfamily | Ommastrephinae |
| Genus | Dosidicus |
| Species | D. gigas |
Description
The Humboldt squid is the largest known member of the Ommastrephids squids, as some individuals may grow to 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m) in mantle length and weigh up to 100 lb (50 kg).
Generally, the body (or mantle) constitutes about 40% of the animal’s mass, wings (or fins) about 12%, the tentacles, and arms about 14%, the head (including beak and eyes) about 5%, the outer skin about 3%, with the remaining 26% made up of the inner organs.
Ecology
The Humboldt squid’s diet consists mainly of crustaceans, small fish, copepods, and cephalopods. The squid makes use of its barbed tentacle suckers to grab its prey and tears and slices the victim’s flesh with its radula and beak.
They attack prey with all 10 appendages extended forward in a cone-like shape. After reaching striking distance, they open their eight grasping and swimming arms and extend two long tentacles covered with sharp teeth. It grabs its prey and pulls it back towards a parrot-like beak, which can cause serious lacerations to human flesh.
The two longer tentacles can reach and grab prey at full length and also retract so quickly that almost the entire action happens in one frame of a normal-speed video camera. Each of the squid’s suckers is covered with sharp teeth, and the beak can tear flesh. Nevertheless, they are believed to lack the jaw strength to crack heavy bone.
The Humboldt squid also hunts by pulling its prey into great depths until the prey faints. The Humboldt squid also can devour larger prey quickly when hunting in groups.
Behavior
Humboldt squid is known as carnivorous marine invertebrates that move in shoals of about 1,200 individuals. They swim at speeds up to 15mph (24 km/h; 13kn), propelled by two triangular fins and by water ejected through a hyponome (siphon).
Their tentacles bear 100 to 200 suckers, each lined with razor-sharp teeth, which it uses to grasp prey a drag it towards its large sharp beak.
Some research assumes that Humboldt squid is passive but only aggressive while feeding. They often display signs of cannibalism as they are seen to attack vulnerable and injured squid on their shoal readily.
Some researchers claim that the aggression displayed by the Humboldt squid is due to the reflective gear or flashing lights.
They dive to depths of 430 to 660 ft (130 to 200 m) below the surface to feed (up from their typical 2,300 ft (700 m) diving deep, beyond the range of human diving). They frequently attack deep-sea cameras and render them inoperable.
Reproduction
Female squids lay almost transparent gelatinous egg masses and float freely in the water column. The egg mass size varies depending on the size of the female that laid it.
Large Humboldt squid females can lay egg masses up to 3 to 4 m in diameter, while female squid lay about 1 m in diameter. Egg masses are assumed to contain 5,000 – 4.1 million eggs, depending on the size of the female.
Distribution
The Humboldt squid inhabits 660 – 2,300 ft (200 – 700 m) in the eastern Pacific (Peru, Chile), ranging from Tierra del Fuego north to California.
Its name was derived from the Humboldt Current, where it lives, off the coast of South America.
Recently, the Humboldt squid has been occurring farther north, as far as British Columbia.
The Humboldt squids prefer deep water, between 1,000 – 1,500, but squids being washed up on shore at the Long Beach Peninsula in southwest Washington were reported in late 2004.
Humboldt squid was given the nickname jumbo squid because of their sheer size. They grow up to 6 feet (2 meters) and weigh as much as 110 pounds (50 kilograms). The Humboldt squid is not the largest squid species.
Though the largest squids are Colossal and Giant squid, the giant squid grows up to 43 feet (13 meters) and weighs as much as 610 pounds (275 kilograms). The Colossal squid grows up to 46 feet (14 meters) and weighs as much as 1,091 pounds (495 kilograms).
Humboldt squids are known for their speed in feasting on hooked sharks, fishes, and even squid from their shoal or species.
