Te Papa’s colossal squid weighs almost 500 kilograms, and she isn’t even a mature adult! In 2007, a New Zealand fishing boat hauled up this specimen in the Southern Ocean.

Colossal squid are the world’s most massive invertebrates, or animals without backbones. They can be 4 metres long.

These whopper molluscs are top predators in Antarctica. Their eyes, the size of soccer balls, help them spot prey in the deep. Few creatures can escape their powerful beaks and tentacles with swivelling hooks.

Te Papa is the only museum where you can get up close to a whole colossal squid. Touch models of a hook and a beak at the end of the tank.