Up to 18 m (59 ft)

Up to 900 kg (1,980 lb, nearly 1 ton)

Eyes: largest in the animal kingdom. They             can grow to 25 cm   (10 in.)   in               diameter--about the size of a              volleyball.

Fins: relatively small in this species. They            help balance and maneuver the huge           animal as it swims.

Mantle: the main body. This muscular sac                 contains most of the organ                 systems.

Arms (8): studded with two rows of                    suckers.

Feeding tentacles (2): missing in this                                        specimen.

Funnel: a multipurpose tube used in                 breathing, jetting, squirting ink,                 laying eggs, and expelling waste.

2.Fins      a.Two pairs of fins present during                     ontogeny.

3.Spermatangia    a.Receptacle (deep sac) for                                     spermatangia located                                     anterior to  each eye in                                     females.

4.Gladius     a.Gladius with broad median field                           and broad conus.

5.Siphuncle ? a.Visceropericardial coelom                               extends posteriorly as a                               slender duct, possibly a                               remnant siphuncle.

6.Photophores   a.Large circular, lidded organs                                 present posterior to each                                 adult fin  ("fin-base" organs).                               b.Numerous small organs                                  distributed over ventral                                  surfaces of  mantle, funnel,                                   head and aboral surface of                                   arms and web ("skin-nodule"                                   organs). Two patches on                                   dorsal surface of head look                                   like aggregrated small                                   photophores but are                                   photoreceptors (Herring, et                                   al.,   1994).                                  c.Unidentified organ(s)                                     produce   luminescent                                    clouds consisting of                                    discrete glowing particles                                   (Hunt, 1966).                                 d.Arm-tip organs (Hunt,                                    1996).