Squid

From ArticleWorld

Of the class Cephalopoda, the squid is a marine animal popular as food in a wide variety of cuisines. It is often referred to as calamari in English speaking countries.

Squid as food

In this context, squid are usually referred to as calamari. The term calamari can mean deep fried, or squid in general. The swimming organ is often sold fresh, or frozen. The tentacles and legs are also edible, but are rarely seen sold in stores. Among the ways to serve squid are deep fried, in a stir fry dish, and stuffed.

Giant squid

The majority of squid are no more than 60cm in length, but the giant squid is can reportedly grow up to twenty meters in length, which makes it the largest invertebrate in the world. Recently, however, an even larger specimen has been discovered, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (the Colossal Squid). A live giant squid was first observed by two Japanese scientists, on September 30, 2005. From their initial observations, the scientists concluded that giant squid are more aggressive than previously thought. A 5.5 meter long tentacle was accidently aquired from the creature and DNA tests, compared with other giant squid specimens previously washed up on shore, confirmed that indeed they had observed a giant squid. The scientists estimated the total size of the squid to be approximately eight meters. More recently, another giant squid was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands. This slgithly larger squid, caught by a trawler, measured 8.62m (28ft).