Mondo Knows Facts
The colossal squid is the heaviest known invertebrate animal
Specimens recovered in Antarctic waters weigh up to 500 kilograms
Living thousands of metres down in cold Southern Ocean depths, the colossal squid is estimated to grow up to 14 metres long and weigh 500 kilograms. It possesses the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, measuring roughly 27 centimetres across, which allows it to detect subtle light sources in complete dark.
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Tags: colossal squid, ocean, invertebrate
The colossal squid is the heaviest known invertebrate animal: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Specimens recovered in Antarctic waters weigh up to 500 kilograms. The figure is taken from Smithsonian, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a records & extremes fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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