A team of researchers has just completed a unique feat in the field of marine biology: for the very first time, they managed to capture a video of a colossal calmar living in its natural habitat. Long considered one of the most elusive creatures in the oceans, this legendary cephalopod was so far documented only through dead specimens, raised by fishing boats. These new images offer an unprecedented overview of the life of one of the most mysterious animals on the planet.
You’ve probably heard of the famous giant calmar, alias Architeuthis leader. This creature arouses a certain fascination, so much so that it has made many memorable appearances in famous works of fiction. The best known example is undoubtedly the essential twenty-one leagues under the seas of Jules Verne, where the Nautilus crew is forced to defend itself against the assault of a giant calmar in an epic battle.
A very discreet juggernaut
But you may not know that there is another species of calmar even more massive than the latter: colossal calmar, or Mesonychotuthis Hamilton For friends. It is the largest known invertebrate; Researchers believe that it can weigh more than 500 kg, just as much as an old Fiat 500!
Unfortunately, everything we know about this animal is based on the study of dead specimens, found in the stomachs of sperm whales or in the trawlers. No living specimen has ever been observed alive in its natural habitat, and for good reason: these are real artists of escape.
« Not only do these animals live in an immense and very dark environment, but it is also likely that they actively avoid us “Explains Kat Bolstad, a marine biologist at the University of Auckland, in a post published on The Conversation. “Calmars that are most capable of avoiding predators have been transmitting their genes for millions of years. The result is a current population of animals with an acute vision, conditioned to flee the light, ”she specifies.
A world premiere
But during his last expedition, the Bolstad team finally touched the goal: this Tuesday, the group announced that it had finally managed to capture the very first images of this Béhémoth, 100 years old almost day after the first formal description.
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These exceptional images, captured by a scientific submersible called SUBASTIAN during an expedition near the sandwich islands, allow in particular to appreciate the anatomical differences between the giant calmar and the colossal calmar.
The first are rather fine and elongated, with a relatively small musculature and a small aileron. The second, on the other hand, is much more stocky and endowed with a much more imposing fin, with generally shorter and thick tentacles. The two longests are notably provided with Extremely sharp swivel hookswhich sink more and more deeply into the prey when it struggles. And it is precisely thanks to the presence of these appendages that the researchers realized who they were dealing with. “” When I saw the hooks, I started to hyperventile “Says Aaron Evans, one of the experts who formally identified the animal.
In the video, we also observe another distinctive sign of this species: its immense iridescent eye globesessential to identify prey in the darkness of the abyss. In adults, they can reach a size greater than that of a standard football ball, which makes them the biggest eyes of the whole known animal kingdom.
In the end, this first observation of a living colossal calmar represents a major advance in our understanding of the abyssal world. It confirms not only the existence of behaviors and morphological characteristics so far supposed, but also opens the way to new research on an ecosystem which is still largely unknown.
At a time when humanity has mapped the surface of March with more precision than the seabed on its own planet, this discovery recalls how much the oceans are still full of more fascinating mysteries than the other. And it is an excellent reason to continue to follow the work of marine biologists, whose discoveries have certainly not finished amazing.
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