Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Cephalopod size" in English language version.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)On 23rd of May last, the Ven. Archdeacon Stock very kindly sent me word that three boys, named Edward R. Stock, and Frank and Walter Morrah, had that morning discovered, at Lyall Bay, what they took to be a very large cuttlefish, with arms several feet long. I lost no time in proceeding to the spot, determined, if possible, to carry home the entire specimen; but judge my surprise when, on reaching the bay, I saw an animal of the size represented in the drawing now before you.* Victor Hugo's account of his "pieuvre" was brought vividly to my mind, and I could not help thinking that a man would stand but a poor chance if he once got within the grasp of such a monster.
My first step after spreading out the arms, was to make a rough sketch and very careful measurements. I then proceeded to extract the so-called skeleton, but found that some person or persons, who had visited the spot earlier than myself, had not been able to resist the temptation to try the temper of their knives upon its back, and had in consequence severed the cuttle-bone in various places. However, I was able, not only to procure all the pieces, but also the beak, tongue, and some of the suckers, only a few of which remained, the greater portion of them having been torn off, either in some fierce encounter, or during the rough weather which had prevailed for some days previously.
The length of body from tip of tail to anterior margin of the mantle was 9 feet 2 inches [2.79 m] and 7 feet 3 inches [2.21 m] in circumference; the head from anterior margin of mantle to roots of arms 1-foot 11 inches [58 cm], making the total length of the body 11 feet 1 inch [3.38 m]. The head measured 4 feet [1.2 m] in circumference. The sessile arms measured 4 feet 3 inches [1.30 m] in length, and 11 inches [28 cm] in circumference; each of these arms bore thirty-six suckers, arranged in two equal rows (as shown by the scars), and measuring from to of an inch [20.6–6.4 mm] in diameter; every sucker was strengthened by a bony ring armed with from forty to sixty sharp incurved teeth. The tentacular arms had been torn off at the length of 6 feet 2 inches [1.88 m], which was probably less than half their original length.
The fins were posterior, and were mere lateral expansions of the mantle, they did not extend over the back as in the case with Onychoteuthis, etc.; each measured 24 inches [61 cm] in length and 13 inches [33 cm] in width.
The cuttle bone, when first extracted, measured 6 feet 3 inches [1.91 m] in length, and 11 inches [28 cm] in width, but has since shrunk considerably; it was broadly lanceolate, with a hollow conical apex 1 inch [28.6 mm] deep.