How many species of squid have existed?

Answer 1

To date there have only ever been 2 types of squid identified. The giant squid and the slightly bigger giant squid.

Giant squids are around 10ft long with whip like venomous tentacle arms covered in tiny lacerated hooks. They have been known to kill over 1500 fishermen a year, often through bleeding out from brutally violent wounds.

The slightly bigger giant squid is much the same, but around 20-30% larger than the giant squid and with a large ivory horn protruding out the centre of it's squishy forehead. The horn is around 5-6ft long and thought to be used in sophisticated 'horn dueling' similar to the human sport of Fencing. The purpose of these duels is to fight for mates, to entertain crowds of other squid and for straight up murdering another squid that made some bad choices.

Who knows how many more species lie in wait for us to discover though! Perhaps 2, maybe even 3 more species but almost definitely not more than that because that's just crazy.

Answer 2

Around 300-400 different species of squid are thought to have existed throughout Earth's history. However, not all of these species are still present today, as some may have gone extinct.