Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea depicts a giant squid that seems astonishingly similar to the specimens found by scientists. The 1954 Disney film based on Verne's book also includes a memorable climax scene that introduces viewers to the size and scope of the giant squid, Architeuthis dux. Its huge, saucer-like eyes, its writhing tentacles, and its aggressive nature on screen may not completely correspond to reality but are similar enough to question whether Verne actually encountered one of the spineless sea monsters during his career. What Verne describes as "poulps of huge dimensions" were once considered mythical.
             Verne described the size of his giant "freak of nature" almost perfectly in Chapter 18 of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. For example, the author notes that the cephalopod's head is fixed to its body; that the eyes were extraordinarily "enormous" and that its tentacles were twice as long as the body. Giant squid have the largest eyes of any known animal (Owen 2005). Verne even offered specific lengths, claiming that the giant squid was 8 yards long. One specimen discovered and photographed by Japanese scientists in 2004 turned out to be 25 feet: almost exactly 8 yards long (Owen 2005). A colossal quid, or Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was recently captured. It is approximately half the size of the giant squid, further proving that Verne had insight into the true nature of the Architeuthis. The squid described in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea weighs between 4000 and 5000 pounds, almost exactly as much as the 25-foot specimen weighed. Although the Disney movie version does not offer such exquisite detail about the physical features of the giant squid, viewers can at least notice its most apparent features: giant eyes, writhing tentacles, and the beak-like mouth. In other words, the giant squid is a frightful creature that differs significantly from the mollusks no...