Giant squid DNA study produces ‘tantalizing questions’ for scientists

Scientists announced they had peeked into the DNA of the giant squid, seeking to demystify a deep-sea creature that has haunted sailors’ dreams for centuries.

But their findings, published Wednesday, threw up some tantalising questions in turn.

They include the likelihood that there is just one species of giant squid, and not a constellation of species as some experts have thought.

And, far from being a rarity, the giant squid could inhabit the deep ocean in large numbers, its pre-larval offspring riding warm currents to disperse globally, the exception being the polar regions.

Evidence “strongly suggests that the family Architeuthis consists of a single species of giant squid, namely Architeuthis dux,” the biologists reported in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“If so, this species is cosmopolitan and likely has a substantial population size.”