For the first time in more than 25 years, traces of the elusive giant squid have been detected off Western Australia — not through a washed-up carcass or fleeting sighting but by reading genetic breadcrumbs in the sea. Scientists analysing environmental DNA (eDNA) recovered giant squid signatures in six separate water samples taken from two deep submarine canyons off the Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) coast, marking the northernmost confirmed record of Architeuthis dux in the eastern Indian Ocean.
The discovery is part of a wider deep-sea biodiversity survey led by Curtin University and published in the journal Environmental DNA. Researchers aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor collected more than 1,000 water samples across the water column in the Cape Range and Cloates canyons — rugged, largely uncharted habitats plunging to depths greater than 4,500 metres and located about 1,200 kilometres north of Perth. The eDNA analysis detected 226 species spanning 11 major animal groups, including many species not previously recorded in Western Australian waters.
Lead author Dr Georgia Nester, who carried out the work as part of her PhD at Curtin and is now based at the Minderoo OceanOmics Centre at the University of Western Australia, said the giant squid finding is “just one part of a much bigger picture.” Nester noted that individual eDNA samples can reveal hundreds of species at once, a capability that is transforming how scientists explore deep-sea ecosystems where cameras and nets often fail to capture the full diversity.
Among the notable detections were several deepwater species that have rarely been recorded in the region, such as a sleeper shark (Somniosus sp.), the faceless cusk eel (Typhlonus nasus) and the slender snaggletooth (Rhadinesthes decimus). DNA from deep-diving cetaceans, including pygmy sperm whales and Cuvier’s beaked whales, also turned up in samples, and researchers reported dozens of genetic sequences that do not neatly match any known records — signals that could represent very poorly known species or taxa new to science.
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Dr Lisa Kirkendale, Head of Aquatic Zoology and Curator of Mollusks at the Western Australian Museum, said the eDNA detection of Architeuthis dux is a significant addition to the sparse historical record: there are only two other records from Western Australian waters, and no confirmed specimen had been reported in more than a quarter-century. The method provides a non-invasive way to confirm presence in remote deepwater habitats where physical encounters with giant squid are extremely rare.
The study highlights both the scale of life concealed in abyssal canyons and the practical value of eDNA as a surveying tool. Every animal sheds trace amounts of genetic material into its surroundings; by filtering and sequencing that material from seawater, researchers can assemble a broad inventory of species without needing to capture or visually observe them. In regions such as the eastern Indian Ocean, where seabed relief and depth complicate traditional sampling, eDNA opens new windows into community composition and distribution.
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Authors say the results underscore how much remains unknown about Australia’s deep-sea fauna and call for further targeted sampling and taxonomic work to validate the many unmatched genetic signatures. For now, the fleeting genetic footprint of a giant squid in Western Australian canyons provides a vivid reminder that some of the ocean’s most iconic inhabitants continue to roam waters scientists are only just beginning to explore.
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