Definitions for "Architeuthis"
A genus of gigantic cephalopods, allied to the squids, found esp. in the North Atlantic and about New Zealand.
largest mollusk known about but never seen (to 60 feet long)
The giant squid (Architeuthis) is the largest squid and the largest invertebrate (animal without a backbone), but it is rarely (f ever) seen since it lives very deep in the oceans. The largest-known Architeuthis was 57 feet (17.5 m) long. Its eyes are as large as basketballs! It has eight arms, two longer feeding tentacles, a beak, a large head, and two large eyes. These soft-bodied cephalopods are fast-moving carnivores that catch prey with their tentacles, then poison it with a bite from beak-like jaws. They move by squirting water through a siphon, a type of jet propulsion. Only dead examples of Architeuthis have been found. Its only enemy is the sperm whale who hunts it deep in the ocean.