Rank Species Subclass Coleoidea | Suborder Oegopsina Genus Onykia Scientific name Onykia robusta Higher classification Moroteuthis Order Squid | |
 | ||
Similar Squid, Hooked squid, Onykia, Cephalopod, Onychoteuthis | ||
Onykia robusta, also known as the robust clubhook squid and often cited by the older name Moroteuthis robusta, is a species of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae. Reaching a mantle length of 2 m (6.6 ft), it is the largest member of its family and one of the largest of all cephalopods. The tentacular clubs are slender, containing 15–18 club hooks. Arms of the species contain 50–60 suckers, and grow to 90–100% of the mantle length. It is found primarily in the boreal to temperate North Pacific.
Confusion with Architeuthis
Some time before 1993, a large individual of O. robusta was photographed by Japanese diver H. Kubota in shallow water off southern Japan. In this image, the animal, which appears to be sick or dying, is shown with a diver, although the use of a wide-angle lens exaggerates its size. A video of the same squid appears in a Japanese made-for-television film. The image was published in the 1993 book European Seashells by Guido T. Poppe and Yoshihiro Goto, where it was identified as Architeuthis dux, the giant squid, and said to have been taken in the North Atlantic. If true, this image would represent the first known photograph of a live giant squid.
In The Search for the Giant Squid (1998), Richard Ellis wrote of this photograph:
"For a moment, I thought that some obscure photograph had captured the most elusive image in natural history. Fortunately for those who have devoted their lives to searching for Architeuthis, this was only an aberration, a case of mistaken identity."
It would be more than a decade before the true first photographs of a live giant squid in the wild were taken on September 30, 2004.
