Editing Giant squid (section)

== Reproductive cycle ==
Little is known about the [[reproductive cycle]] of giant squid. They are thought to reach sexual maturity at about three years old; males reach sexual maturity at a smaller size than females. Females produce large quantities of [[egg]]s, sometimes more than {{convert|5|kg|abbr=on}}, that average {{convert|0.5|to|1.4|mm|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|0.3|to|0.7|mm|abbr=on}} wide.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Roper |first1=Clyde F.E. |last2=Boss |first2=Kenneth J. |date=1982 |title=The Giant Squid |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/11334/iz_roper_1982.pdf |magazine=Scientific American |publisher=W. H. Freeman and Company |volume=246 |issue=4 |pages=96–105 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0482-96 |access-date=23 April 2019 |archive-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423025041/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/11334/iz_roper_1982.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Females have a single median [[ovary]] in the rear end of the mantle cavity and paired, convoluted [[oviduct]]s, where mature eggs pass exiting through the oviducal glands, then through the [[nidamental gland]]s. As in other squid, these glands produce a gelatinous material used to keep the eggs together once they are laid.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Architeuthis_dux/ |title=Architeuthis dux |last=Vaughan |first=Jerrod |website=Animal Diversity Web|access-date=2019-09-22 |archive-date=22 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922175206/https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Architeuthis_dux/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In males, as with most other cephalopods, the single, posterior [[testis]] produces sperm that move into a complex system of glands that manufacture the [[spermatophore]]s. These are stored in the elongate sac, or [[Needham's sac]], that terminates in the penis from which they are expelled during mating. The penis is [[prehensile]], over {{convert|90|cm|abbr=on}} long, and extends from inside the mantle. The two ventral arms on a male giant squid are hectocotylized, which means they are specialized to facilitate the fertilization of the female's eggs.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24966572 |title=The Giant Squid |last=Roper |first=Clyde |journal=Scientific American |year=1982 |volume=246 |issue=4 |pages=96–105 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0482-96 |jstor=24966572 |bibcode=1982SciAm.246d..96R |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205005021/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24966572 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

How the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is much debated, as giant squid lack the [[hectocotylus]] used for reproduction in many other [[cephalopod]]s. It may be transferred in sacs of spermatophores, called spermatangia, which the male injects into the female's arms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martins |first1=Rodrigo Silvestre |last2=Perez |first2=José Angel Alvarez |date=2009 |title=A new record of giant squid Architeuthis sp. (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) in Brazilian waters |journal=Zoologia (Curitiba)|volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=613–623 |doi=10.1590/S1984-46702009005000012 |issn=1984-4689|doi-access=free }}</ref> This is suggested by a female specimen recently found in [[Tasmania]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/molluscs/southern-giant-squid-architeuthis-dux/ |title=Southern Giant Squid |last=Runck |first=Allison |website=The Australian Museum|access-date=2019-04-23 |archive-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423064313/https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/molluscs/southern-giant-squid-architeuthis-dux/ |url-status=live }}</ref> having a small subsidiary [[tendril]] attached to the base of each arm.

Post-[[larva]]l juveniles have been discovered in surface waters off New Zealand, with plans to capture more and maintain them in an [[aquarium]].<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Schrope, M. |date=27 February 2002 |url=http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/200202/giantsquid.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229015840/http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/200202/giantsquid.html |archive-date=2008-02-29 |title=Giant Squid babies captured |magazine=Discovery |department=News}}</ref> Young giant squid specimens were found off the coast of southern Japan in 2013 and confirmed through genetic analysis.<ref name="Wada">{{cite journal |last1=Wada |first1=Toshifumi |last2=Kubodera |first2=Tsunemi |s2cid=84081990 |title=First records of small-sized young giant squid Architeuthis dux from the coasts of Kyushu Island and the south-western Sea of Japan |journal=Marine Biodiversity Records |volume=8 |pages=158–164 |year=2015 |doi=10.1017/S175526721500127X |bibcode=2015MBdR....8E.153W }}</ref>

Another juvenile, approximately 3.7 metres long, was encountered and filmed alive in the harbour in the Japanese city of [[Toyama (city)|Toyama]] on 24 December 2015; after being filmed and viewed by a large number of spectators, including a diver who entered the water to film the squid up close, it was guided out of the harbour into [[Toyama Bay]] by the diver.<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Euan McKirdy|author2=Junko Ogura|title=Giant squid surfaces in Japanese harbor|url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/asia/toyama-japan-giant-squid/index.html|access-date=2020-06-24|publisher=CNN|date=28 December 2015|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625074922/https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/asia/toyama-japan-giant-squid/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fessenden|first=Marissa|title=A Giant Squid Visits a Japanese Harbor|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giant-squid-visits-japanese-harbor-180957658/|access-date=2020-06-24|website=Smithsonian Magazine|archive-date=24 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624234826/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giant-squid-visits-japanese-harbor-180957658/|url-status=live}}</ref>