en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid
3 corrections found
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association
NOAA’s name is misstated here. NOAA stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, not “Association.”
Full reasoning
This is a straightforward naming error. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a U.S. federal agency within the Department of Commerce. NOAA’s own materials use “Administration,” not “Association,” and the official NOAA Ocean Exploration page about the June 2019 Journey into Midnight giant-squid sighting also identifies NOAA with that name. Because the article expands the acronym incorrectly, this claim is factually wrong.
2 sources
- NOAA and SOS - Science On a Sphere
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a federal government science agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- Here Be Monsters: We Filmed a Giant Squid in America's Backyard - NOAA Ocean Exploration
Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
which may have a mantle nearly twice as long
This overstates the colossal squid’s mantle length. Reliable sources put giant-squid mantles at about 2–2.25 m and colossal-squid mantles at about 2.5 m, which is not anywhere near twice as long.
Full reasoning
The comparison here is numerically off. The same article gives giant squid mantle length as about 2 m (and Te Papa notes giant squid are not known to exceed 2.25 m in mantle length). By contrast, authoritative sources describing colossal squid give mantle lengths of about 2.5 m for the largest measured specimens. A 2.5 m mantle is only modestly longer than a 2–2.25 m mantle, not "nearly twice as long." So the article’s comparison substantially exaggerates the difference in mantle length between giant and colossal squid.
3 sources
- Largest cephalopods | Guinness World Records
Based on length, the record holder is the giant squid ... with the main body (mantle) reaching up to 2.25 m ... Colossal squid ... have a similar-sized mantle (up to 2.5 m/8 ft 2 in).
- Giant squid Architeuthis dux | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The mantle is only about 2 m long ... Architeuthis dux is not known to attain a mantle length in excess of 2.25 m.
- Colossal squid at Te Papa | Te Papa
It had a mantle length (ML) of 2.5m ... At the time (2003) it was ... the longest mantle of any squid measured.
The two ventral arms on a male giant squid are hectocotylized
This appears to be wrong: giant squid are generally described as lacking a hectocotylus and using the terminal organ/penis, not modified ventral arms, to transfer sperm.
Full reasoning
Authoritative sources on giant-squid reproduction describe the opposite of what this sentence says. Te Papa’s giant squid overview states that giant squid lack a hectocotylus, the specialized arm used by many cephalopods to transfer spermatophores. A recent peer-reviewed paper on Architeuthis dux likewise explains that giant squid show evidence of direct spermatophore transfer with the terminal organ, rather than transfer via a hectocotylus. Because a hectocotylus is the modified reproductive arm, saying that the male’s two ventral arms “are hectocotylized” misstates the current evidence on how giant squid reproduce.
2 sources
- Giant squid Architeuthis dux | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Giant squid lack a hectocotylus - a specially modified arm used to transfer spermatophores to the female.
- Evidence for direct use of terminal organ for spermatophore transfer in giant squid, Architeuthis dux - PMC
There is ample anatomical evidence for the use of male genitalia, with direct transport of sperm capsules (spermatophores) into the female instead of passing through a hectocotylus ... Here, we present evidence supporting this hypothesis in the giant squid, Architeuthis dux.