Giant squid show taste for cannibalism

GIANT squid may have a taste for something other than hapless sailors: each other. The creatures, enshrined in myth as ferocious beasts that upturn boats and munch mariners, appear to indulge in cannibalism.

Identifying the prey of the giant squid, Achiteuthis dux, is not easy since they finely macerate their food.

The digestive systems of most specimens studied have been empty and none of the animals has ever been examined alive.

Now scientists from the University of Tasmania have had an opportunity to analyse the gut contents of a male giant squid caught by fishermen in 1999.

They found three tentacle fragments and 12 squid beaks.

The only other prey identified was a fish, the blue grenadier.

Earlier evidence of cannibalism in a female giant squid caught in New Zealand waters was dismissed as accidental.

It was thought that during mating the male's penis might have strayed too close to the female's beak, with the result that bits were "chewed off".

But the new specimen, from the west coast of Tasmania, is male.

Other large squid, such as the jumbo squid, Moroteuthis ingens, are known to eat members of their own species. "The team therefore think the cannibalism is likely to be international," said New Scientist.