In fish markets and restaurants in English-speaking countries, it is often known by the name calamari, from the Italian word for these animals.
Squids are members of the class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleoidea, order Teuthida, of which there are two major suborders, Myopsina and Oegopsina (including the giant squids like Architeuthisdux).
Teuthida is the largest of the cephalopod orders, edging out the octopuses (order Octopoda) for total number of species, with 298 classified into 28 families.
http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/squid.htm The Giant Squid The existence of the giant squid, genus Architeuthis, is well accepted by science though few have ever been seen, and little is known about their habits.
http://www.ucc.ie/research/adc/posters/poster18.html Giant Squid in Ireland by Colm Lordan Introduction Giant squid (Architeuthis sp.) are one of the most infamous monsters of the sea.
I have been fascinated by ArchiteuthisDux (the Giant Squid) and all its relatives since I saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, many years ago.
Emory Kristof is riding shotgun on the last great animal hunt on planet Earth.
His goal: Be the first to shoot - on film - the legendary giant squid (Architeuthisdux), a brute so enormous that ancient Norse mariners believed its thrashing caused maelstroms.
First described by Aristotle, the carnivorous calamari - believed to grow as long as two semi trucks placed end to end - is an elusive denizen of the deep ocean.
See my Kraken stamps page for more information about giant cephalopods.
ArchiteuthisDux (in Italian) by Enrico Altini provides a good introduction to the giant squid.
Giant squid from the American Museum of Natural History shows pictures of an intact giant squid accidentally caught off New Zealand in deep-sea fishing nets.
