For century , the enigmatic jumbo calamari has been at the center of horror traditional knowledge and sailor fright . With a body the duration of a school bus and basketball - sized orb , the cephalopod ’s massive tentacle can take hold of prey from up to 9 meters ( 30 feet ) away . Despite its enormous balance , Architeuthis duxis seldom seen by humans and has never been kept alive in captivity , begging the question : how did this creature get so big ?
Now , investigator from the University of Copenhagen and Woods Hole Marine Biological Lab ( MBL ) are on the hunting for answers – and they ’re start up with bring out the human beings ’s first whole - genome sequencing of the elephantine squid ’s DNA .
" We have so much to memorise about the be world . Much of the world is covered in sea , and we have it off comparatively niggling about the abstruse sea , where these animals live , " study authorCaroline Albertinof MBL evidence IFLScience . " Their environment is so different from ours , we can learn about how they solve the challenges of living in that environment . "
Despite being set up in deep sea water around the world , giant squid ’s elusiveness makes them unmanageable to study . To this day , their biology , animation history , and procreative cycles for the most part stay a mystery . so as to get piecing together the cephalopod mystifier , research worker drew comparisons to the human genome , as well as four other cephalopodan species whose genome have been sequenced . Cephalopods are recollect to have evolved independently from vertebrates , Albertin said . Comparing their genomes can provide grounds for this .
" As giant squid are hard to analyze , we desire to compare their genomes to other cephalopod , like the devilfish , to substantially understand these little - studied animals , " Albertin explicate . " This is one of the best - assemble cephalopodan genomes , so it will be very helpful in understanding both the elephantine calamary , but also their cephalopod cousin . "
In term of genes , the elephantine calamari looks a wad like other animals . They have an estimate 2.7 billion DNA base of operations couplet , make their genome 90 percentage the size of the human one . Of particular interestingness were Hox and Wnt , two developmental genes that are found in almost all animals . However , only single copies were take note in the giant squid genome , meaning the elephantine squid did not get so large through “ whole - genome gemination , ” a scheme that has helped many vertebrates evolve to be large .
" Vertebrates , like humanity , mice , and fish , have a number of feature that are similar to what we see in cephalopods – some famous examples are camera eyes , a closed in circulative arrangement , and expectant encephalon , " said Albertin . " Because it ’s thought that these feature are the upshot of independent evolutionary histories ( convergent evolution ) , we can ask if cephalopod mollusk and vertebrates are making these features the same mode or in different ways . "
Researchers also found reflectins , a cistron family unequaled to cephalopods that is responsible for for encode a protein involved in making iridescence . Additionally , the team remark more than 100 cistron in the protocadherin family , which typically are not found in copiousness in invertebrate . Mammals generally have between 50 and 60 while there are more than 160 in the octopus genome and an expansion in the jumbo calamary too .
" Protocadherins are recall to be important in wiring up a complicated learning ability right , " say Albertin . " They were think to be a vertebrate innovation , so we were really surprised when we find more than 100 of them in the devilfish genome ( in 2015 ) . That seemed like a smoking gun to how you make a complicated head . And we have establish a like expansion of protocadherins in the jumbo calamary , as well . "
This information is a “ critical resourcefulness ” to understanding the unique traits of this specie , admit its overgrowth and key adjustment to deep - sea environs . Yet other mystery still stay on . How didA. duxevolve one of the largest brains among invertebrates ? Where did its sophisticated demeanor and nimbleness amount from ? How is it capable of instantly camouflaging its gigantic eubstance ? Those are all questions that Albertin hopes to do through further analysis of this “ bizarre ” creature ’s deoxyribonucleic acid .
With a dead body the length of a school omnibus and hoops - sized eyeball , the cephalopodan ’s massive tentacles can grab prey from up to 9 meters ( 30 feet ) away . University of Copenhagen
