Giant Squid: Architeuthis

Architeuthis is a real giant squid which, has over 20 metres in length and 1,000 kilos in weight.
In the perpetual darkness of the ocean bed thousands of unknown beings thrive, never seen by man. This is the dwelling place of the giant squid, a legendary animal which the Norwegian sailors called the Kraken and which, up to now, no one has ever managed to see alive.

At the Coordination Centre for the Study and Protection of Marine Species, a naturalist in love with the sea had spent many years studying the legendary marine monster. Since time immemorial, giant squid had appeared along the shores of Asturias. For the local people, it was simply one of many creatures that the sea cast onto its beaches and, as there was no way of making use of them, no one paid any attention to them. But Luis Laria understood the importance of what was happening there.
At first, Luis Laria thought it was simply a chance occurrence, but in time he began to understand that there, just a short distance from the coast of Luarca, there was a stable population of giant squid, a unique treasure that the world ought to know about.

Though unknown to the general public, this is the most important collection of giant squid in the world. Today, the CEPESMA has 19 and every year new examples are added to its collection. And the giant squid are not the only mysterious cephalopods of the ocean depths to be found in the museum.
These mysterious squid have attracted the most eminent world specialists in cephalopods, in search of the tracks of an animal that has eluded man since the origin of our species. Because, though formidable in size, the giant squid remains a mystery for the scientific community and a marine monster for the immense majority; a monster whose legend began many centuries ago.
From the very start of history, man has found in the sea a home for his demons and superstitions. Those who crossed the oceans in fragile wooden ships lived for months in the fear of a liquid world that was forbidden to them and which frequently killed entire crews. 

It is therefore understandable that many of the creatures that came to the surface of that shadowy universe were described by the first chroniclers as terrible beasts, hybrids between the reality and their feverish, terrified imaginations. Among these legendary beasts, there was one whose legend would grow in time: the Kraken. This was a fearsome monster with many arms, which attacked the ships and dragged them down into the depths; an enormous octopus whose strength and malice for centuries terrified the sailors of northern Europe. 
But behind the legend of the monstrous Kraken lay a species of squid which the Danish naturalist baptised with the name Architeuthis: a real squid, yes, but an animal which, with its over 20 metres in length and 1,000 kilos in weight fully lived up to the reputation of the legendary Kraken. And, nonetheless, an animal about which we still know almost nothing.