Scientists find Giant Squid Western Australia Edna in six samples

Scientists found giant squid western australia edna DNA in six separate samples from two deep submarine canyons off the Nyinggulu coast. The record is the first for Western Australian waters using eDNA protocols, and it arrives after more than 25 years without evidence from the state.

Dr Georgia Nester, the study’s lead author, said: "Finding evidence of a giant squid really captures people’s imagination, but it’s just one part of a much bigger picture," She added: "We found a large number of species that don’t neatly match anything currently recorded, which doesn’t automatically mean they’re new to science, but it strongly suggests there is a vast amount of deep-sea biodiversity we’re only just beginning to uncover."

Curtin University study

The work was led by Curtin University in Australia and published in Environmental DNA. Researchers identified Architeuthis dux, the giant squid, in the eastern Indian Ocean’s northernmost recorded location for the species, according to the study.

The expedition took place aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor. Scientists collected more than 1,000 water samples across the water column, then detected 226 species across 11 major animal groups.

Ninggulu canyons findings

The Cape Range and Cloates submarine canyons plunge to depths of more than 4,500 metres and sit approximately 1,200 kilometres north of Perth. The survey found dozens of species never previously recorded in Western Australian waters, along with the sleeper shark, the faceless cusk eel, the slender snaggletooth, the Pygmy sperm whale and Cuvier’s beaked whale.

The giant squid finding adds one more record to a short list. The background context notes there are only two other records of the species from Western Australian waters, while this survey extends that trail into a deep-sea region that had been little explored in eDNA work.

Architeuthis dux record

For readers trying to place the result, the practical change is simple: Western Australia now has a new eDNA record for a species long associated with deep ocean waters, and scientists have a larger catalog of animals from the Ninggulu canyons to work through. Nester’s next step is already implicit in the data she described — more of the deep sea still needs sampling before the region’s full animal list is known.