Scientists in New Zealand examining the largest squid ever found say she was not fully grown when hauled from Antarctic waters, and far larger specimens are almost certainly in existence.
The 495kg colossal squid, scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was caught by fishermen in February last year and snap frozen.
Earlier this week, an international team of scientists began the task of thawing the squid out, and finally were able to properly examine the creature.
On Wednesday, they learned the specimen was just 4.2 metres long, much shorter than the earlier predictions of eight to 10 metres, and the same length as another colossal squid found in 2003 that was 195kg lighter.
It is believed two long tentacles described by fishermen who caught the animal shortened and shrank after the animal died.
Steve O'Shea, a marine biologist who is part of an international team looking at the creature, said he could tell from the creature's beak that it was not yet fully grown.
"Perhaps the colossal squid gets up to 750kg. That is certainly not the largest specimen out there," he said.
Only 75 colossal squid have ever been recovered, but the one found in February last year is the best preserved and most intact adult example.
Colossal squid grow to be shorter, but much heavier, than giant squid, which are a different species.
The colossal squid live only at huge depths in icy Antarctic waters and have an arsenal of hundreds of hooks to help them catch and kill their prey, which is known to include patagonian tooth fish.
The specimen investigated is also the largest invertebrate ever captured.
The team studying the squid determined it was a female after locating the animal's ovaries packed with several thousand eggs.
Because females are thought to grow larger than males, its gender is an important tool to help biologists learn the potential size of the creatures.
Earlier, O'Shea said a highlight was seeing the creature's eyes, which are 27cm in diameter, slightly larger than a soccer ball, and the biggest eyes of any known creature on the planet.
"In 2003, when we had the first specimen, we didn't have any eyes. When we put a certain gadget in the water here we saw two of the most sensational eyes and they are both perfect. That is a highlight. That is probably the best thing so far," O'Shea said.
Professor Eric Warrant from the University of Lund in Sweden, who was in Wellington to study the squid, said the eyes would probably have been larger in the living creature but after it was captured they collapsed a little.
He said the creature, which can see only in black and white, needed such massive eyes to be able to maximise the light it received in the deep, dark waters where it lived, about a kilometre below the ocean surface.
Mark Fenwick, a technician at Wellington's Te Papa Tongarewa Museum where the squid will be housed, admitted that scientists had snacked on part of another colossal squid being examined.
"It was almost like a tua tua, you know, a cockle. It was very nice. It left a real taste in your mouth and stayed for quite a while," Fenwick said.
"It was very much like that (sashimi). This is a gourmet meal. I don't know anyone else who has eaten Mesonychoteuthis."
Now the squid has been examined it will be preserved in formalin and kept in a tank, before it is ultimately put on show to the public.
Colossal squid are not thought to be endangered, and make up about 77 per cent of the diet of sperm whales.
Journalists were told scrape wounds seen on sperm whales were probably a result of the squid trying to stop themselves being eaten by the marine mammals.
Prior to the discovery of this colossal squid specimen, the largest known invertebrate was a 300kg colossal squid found in 2003.
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