The Search for the Giant Squid is a non-fiction book by Richard Ellis on the biology, history and mythology of the giant squid of the genusArchiteuthis.[nb 1] It was well received upon its release in 1998. Though soon rendered outdated by important developments in giant squid research,[2][3] it is still considered an important reference on the subject.[4]
Historically, the giant squid was only known from dead or dying specimens, and it was only in the 21st century that it was studied alive in its natural habitat.
Background
Ellis wrote a chapter about the giant squid for his 1994 book, Monsters of the Sea,[5] and said he "was so intrigued by this critter" that it led him to write "an entire book about Architeuthis".[6]The Search for the Giant Squid incorporates text from both Monsters of the Sea and a 1997 article[7] on museum models of giant squid published in Curator: The Museum Journal.[1] It followed a number of shorter publications by Ellis on the subject of giant squid that appeared between 1994 and 1998.[7][8][9][10][11] To gather material for his book, Ellis spoke to giant squid expert Clyde Roper during the latter's preparations for his (ultimately unsuccessful) January–March 1997 expedition to New Zealand in search of the giant squid.[12] Responding to a comment about the paucity of available information on the giant squid, Ellis said: "There's not that much known, but there's a lot you can write about what's not known, why it isn't known and who doesn't know it."[12] In 2003, Ellis explained: "I wrote The Search for the Giant Squid to try and dispel some of the crazy ideas that this cephalopod is in any way dangerous to humans".[13]
Publication
The first hardback edition was published by Lyons Press on September 1, 1998; a paperback edition by Penguin Books followed on October 1, 1999. Robert Hale released a hardback edition for the British market in 1999, and an Italian translation by Edizioni Piemme (as Il Calamaro Gigante; translated by Maria Teresa Marenco) appeared the same year. In 2002, a German translation was published by Heel Verlag (as Riesenkraken der Tiefsee; translated by Kurt Beginnen).[14]
Subsequent developments
The book was published at a time when there were still no known photographs of a live giant squid, which Ellis described as "the most elusive image in natural history".[1] This soon changed as the first years of the 21st century saw a number of breakthroughs in live giant squid imaging that ultimately culminated in the first recordings of live animals in their natural deep-water habitat in July 2012. These events marked a turning point in the scientific understanding of the giant squid's life history and biology, which Ellis himself discussed in a TV interview, commenting: "now my book is a little obsolete".[2]
Content
Table of contents (1st ed.)
Chapter
Title
1
Introducing Architeuthis
2
Is the Sea Monster a Giant Squid?
3
The Biology of Squids, Giant and Otherwise
4
By What Name Shall We Call the Giant Squid?
5
Architeuthis Appears
6
What Do We Know About Architeuthis?
7
Battle of the Giants
8
The Giant Squid in Literature and Cinema
9
The Models of Architeuthis
10
Conclusion
The book consists of ten chapters covering the biology, mythology and history of the giant squid, as well as popular culture depictions and notable models thereof. An appendix lists all "authenticated giant squid sightings and strandings" known to the author (expanded from a similar list in Ellis's Monsters of the Sea), comprising 166 entries and spanning five centuries, from 1545 to 1996.[15] The extensive bibliography numbers some 600 references spread across 38 pages.[15]
Apart from the cover, the book is illustrated exclusively with black-and-white images, including 30 photographs and 35 line drawings.[16]
Reception
A copy of the book alongside various giant squid specimens at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen
Clyde Roper, considered the world's foremost expert on Architeuthis at the time, commented:[25]
Ellis [has] the freedom and luxury to dredge into the depths of mythology, fantasy, fiction, and undocumented 'eyewitness' accounts, as well as into the scientific literature, itself not entirely free from imagination. The mix of all these sources, dissected and analyzed with an appropriate dash of skepticism, and an occasional pinch of speculation, yields a volume that surely will be read and re-read by the full range of readers from monster-lovers to scientists.
Martin Wells, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge, considered the book "serious and very well researched" and a "gold-mine of fact and fantasy, for we scientists who work on cephalopods and for all of us who love monsters".[19][26] Reviewing the work for The New York Times Book Review, Laura Miller agreed that it was "rigorously researched", but opined that some pages "contain more data than anyone but the most devoted squid buff could desire".[17] This sentiment was echoed by David Wicinas in the University of Pennsylvania's Gazette, who wrote that though the book is "painstakingly researched [...] the sheer amount of data may daunt all but the most motivated readers".[23]
Biologist and author E. O. Wilson praised Ellis's writing style, remarking that he "uses his exceptional gifts in image and words to evoke the wonder and mystery of the sea".[25] While giving an overall positive appraisal, Michael Dirda, writing for The Washington Post, commented that "Ellis's easygoing prose suffers from needless repetitions [...] The Search for the Giant Squid could have been more tightly edited and [...] just a bit flashier".[18] But he concluded that "Ellis is fun to read, knowledgeable and enthusiastic" and praised Lyons Press for producing "a beautiful book, starting with its striking dust jacket (the author's own painting of a reddish giant squid with an enormous staring eye) and continuing with generous margins, thick paper and lots of drawings and photographs".[18] The visual aspects of the work were also singled out as a strength in a review for Publishers Weekly, particularly its "30 b&w photographs and 35 line drawings, many historical, several of the drawings by Ellis himself".[16]
The Adventure of the Giant Squid by N. C. Wyeth (c. 1939), used as the cover illustration on certain editions of Ellis's Monsters of the Sea. Though fictional accounts often involve giant squid attacking boats, live animals found at the surface are almost invariably sick or dying, and no injuries resulting from such encounters have ever been documented.
In a review for Whole Earth magazine, Jaron Lanier wrote: "Richard Ellis has written the definitive giant squid book, achieving a superb blend of scientific reporting and cultural history."[22] Similarly, in the malacological journal Folia Malacologica, Beata Pokryszko concluded that the "book combines history, zoology, adventure and myth in an admirable way",[21] and the Publishers Weekly review described it as "an absorbing work of natural history and a classic of cryptozoology", in which "Ellis vivifies and celebrates [the giant squid] with erudition and consummate skill".[16] Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks likewise thought that Ellis had done a "splendid job bringing together virtually every known account (mythical, fictional, and factual), and producing a narrative at once gripping and meticulously balanced".[25]Peter Benchley, whose 1991 novel Beast features a giant squid as its primary antagonist, wrote: "In researching an animal about which so little is known, Richard Ellis has managed to assemble an astonishing amount of material [...] This is an amazing book about an amazing creature."[25][27]
The Search for the Giant Squid was briefly featured in the March 1999 issue of Scientific American, under "The editors recommend", where it was noted for providing "a huge amount of information".[15] Russian teuthologistKir Nesis, one of the world's foremost cephalopod experts at the time, described it as an "interesting popular science book" and noted its comprehensive bibliography.[28] A Booklist review called it "a fascinating compendium" and opined that "Ellis's illustrated books about sea creatures have long made delectable reading".[25] David K. Bulloch, author of Underwater Naturalist and The Wasted Ocean, wrote: "Ellis has assembled a potpourri of ancient myth, rare sightings, and occasional bodily remains into a mosaic on Architeuthis, the Kraken, cryptic squids of the abyssal depths".[25]
Reviewing both The Search for the Giant Squid and Monsters of the Sea for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, Jon Lien—once a member of giant squid expert Frederick Aldrich's "squid squad"—wrote that the former "thoroughly covers our knowledge of this exciting creature" and "is enjoyable and informative but I found it a bit less interesting than [Monsters of the Sea]".[29] He was also of the view that "Ellis is hard on Aldrich's efforts to study [the giant squid] and on his speculations regarding its biology".[29]
Later appraisal
Writing for Atlas Obscura in 2018, Eric Grundhauser opined that despite developments in the field since its publication, the book "is still the best read on the subject" and that "for anyone looking for a thorough primer on these mysterious creatures, this 1998 book remains essential".[4]
Release details
Paperback edition by Penguin Books. The background is taken from an illustration by Glen Loates and depicts an encounter between a giant squid and a sperm whale.
The book has been published in hardback and paperback formats and translated into German and Italian.[14]
Ellis, R. (1999). The Search for the Giant Squid [: An authoritative look at the biology and mythology of the world's most elusive sea creature]. Robert Hale, London. ix + 322pp. ISBN978-0-7090-6433-6. OCLC60210930
A squid is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin.
The giant squid is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around 12–13 m (39–43 ft) for females and 10 m (33 ft) for males, from the posterior fins to the tip of the two long tentacles. The mantle of the giant squid is about 2 m long, and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles rarely exceeds 5 m (16 ft). Claims of specimens measuring 20 m (66 ft) or more have not been scientifically documented.
Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are often pictured threatening ships or spouting jets of water. The definition of a "monster" is subjective; further, some sea monsters may have been based on scientifically accepted creatures, such as whales and types of giant and colossal squid.
Karl Shuker is a British zoologist, cryptozoologist and author. He lives in the Midlands, England, where he works as a zoological consultant and writer. A columnist in Fortean Times and contributor to various magazines, Shuker is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cryptozoology, which began in November 2012.
A globster or blob is an unidentified organic mass that washes up on the shoreline of an ocean or other body of water. A globster is distinguished from a normal beached carcass by being hard to identify, at least by initial untrained observers, and by creating controversy as to its identity.
Glovers Harbour, formerly known as Thimble Tickle(s), is an unincorporated community and harbour in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located in Notre Dame Bay on the northern coast of the island of Newfoundland. As a local service district, it is led by an elected committee that is responsible for the delivery of certain essential services. It is delineated as a designated place for statistical purposes.
References to the fictional kraken are found in film, literature, television, and other popular culture forms.
Onykia robusta, also known as the robust clubhook squid and often cited by the older name Moroteuthis robusta, is a species of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae. Reaching a mantle length of 2 m (6.6 ft), it is the largest member of its family and one of the largest of all cephalopods. The tentacular clubs are slender, containing 15–18 club hooks. Arms of the species contain 50–60 suckers, and grow to 90–100% of the mantle length. It is found primarily in the boreal to Temperate Northern Pacific.
Frederick Allen Aldrich AB, M.Sc., Ph.D. was an American marine biologist and educator. He is best remembered for his research on giant squid.
Cephalopods, which include squids and octopuses, vary enormously in size. The smallest are only about 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long and weigh less than 1 gram (0.035 oz) at maturity, while the giant squid can exceed 10 metres (33 ft) in length and the colossal squid weighs close to half a tonne (1,100 lb), making them the largest living invertebrates. Living species range in mass more than three-billion-fold, or across nine orders of magnitude, from the lightest hatchlings to the heaviest adults. Certain cephalopod species are also noted for having individual body parts of exceptional size.
The colossal squid is the largest member of its family Cranchiidae, the cockatoo or glass squids, with its second largest member being Megalocranchia fisheri. It is sometimes called the Antarctic cranch squid or giant squid and is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only recognized member of the genus Mesonychoteuthis and is known from only a small number of specimens. The species is confirmed to reach a mass of at least 495 kilograms (1,091 lb), though the largest specimens—known only from beaks found in sperm whale stomachs—may perhaps weigh as much as 600–700 kilograms (1,300–1,500 lb), making it the largest known invertebrate. Maximum total length has been estimated between 10 metres (33 ft) and 14 metres (46 ft) but the former estimate is more likely. The colossal squid has the largest eyes of any known creature ever to exist, with an estimated diameter of 27–30 cm (11–12 in) to 40 cm (16 in) for the largest collected specimen.
The kraken is a legendary sea monster of enormous size, per its etymology something akin to a cephalopod, said to appear in the sea between Norway and Iceland. It is believed that the legend of the Kraken may have originated from sightings of giant squid, which may grow to 12–15 m in length.
Exotic Zoology is a 1959 cryptozoological book by Willy Ley, a science writer and space advocate. The illustrator of the book is Olga Ley.
Beast is a 1991 novel by Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws.
"The Sea Raiders" is a short story by H. G. Wells, first published in 1896 in The Weekly Sun Literary Supplement. It was included in The Plattner Story and Others, a collection of short stories by Wells published by Methuen & Co. in 1897. It was included in The Country of the Blind and Other Stories, a collection of short stories by Wells published by Thomas Nelson & Sons in 1911.
References
1 2 3 Ellis, R. (1998). The Search for the Giant Squid. Lyons Press, New York. ix + 322pp. ISBN978-1-55821-689-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
