How big is a giant squid? As of November 2026, Guinness World Records says the giant squid can grow to at least 13 meters (42 ft) long. Most of that length is in its tentacles. The main body, called the mantle, reaches up to 2.25 meters. Guinness says the heaviest whole giant squid on record weighed about 220 kilograms (485 pounds).

Numbers about size differ. Media reports often claim giant squid grow up to 18 metres (60 feet). But National Geographic says the largest verifiable giant squid was 12 metres long.

Scientists have also seen live giant squid. On September 30, 2004, a camera on a bait line off Japan's Ogasawara Islands photographed one in the deep ocean, about eight metres long. The squid in the 2012 video was about three metres long. The scientist Kubodera estimated the 2012 squid would have been eight metres long if it had been whole. News reports said a squid filmed in December 2006 at the surface, not in the deep ocean, measured about 24 feet (7 metres) long.

A giant squid's eye can reach about 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) across. This was measured on specimens by scientists, as reported in 2012. The suckers on a giant squid cover only the inner surface of its arms and tentacles. The tentacles end in a broader club used for hunting, and the eight shorter arms help grip and feed.

A giant squid swims by jet propulsion. Its stretchy mantle snaps back and jets water out through the funnel. Filmed in the deep sea, its skin shifted between gold and silver metallic colors.

Giant squid live in the deep sea, perhaps 200 to 1,000 meters down. That depth is usually called the twilight zone, where light fades quickly.

As of November 2026, scientists do not know how many giant squid there are.

Words to know

• mantle: squid's main body
• tentacles: long feeding arms
• funnel: water tube
• verifiable: checkable