{"id":260197,"date":"2026-01-31T00:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260197\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:43:12","slug":"measuring-up-to-the-length-of-a-bus-these-creatures-have-the-longest-tentacles-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260197\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring up to the length of a bus, these creatures have the longest tentacles in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we think of tentacled animals, we usually think of marine creatures. But many other species have them too. For example, the eyestalks of slugs and snails are actually specialised types of tentacles.<\/p>\n

And the star-nosed mole<\/a> has 22 short tentacles around its nose which makes it one of the most sensitive organs in the animal world.<\/p>\n

But some of the longest tentacles in the natural world belong to ocean-based creatures, providing them with benefits such as reaching longer distances to snatch prey. And if they\u2019re laced with venom<\/a> (like they are in jellyfish), they can also do considerable damage while maintaining a safe distance.<\/p>\n

So which creatures have the longest tentacles? Well, measuring these appendages is rather challenging \u2013 particularly when many of the contenders are deep-sea creatures<\/a> (thanks to abyssal gigantism<\/a>). But science thinks it has the answer \u2013 as well as some runners-up.<\/p>\n

Longest tentacles in the animal world
\nGiant Pacific octopus
\n\"AA giant Pacific octopus crawls along the seafloor in British Columbia, Canada – Getty<\/p>\n

If you guessed that the giant Pacific octopus<\/a> would be on this list, then you\u2019d technically be incorrect \u2013 as octopuses have arms, not tentacles.<\/p>\n

However, their arms are pretty lengthy, sometimes exceeding 4m (13ft). The largest ever specimen reportedly measured 9.75m (32ft) long. The octopus\u2019 arms are covered in suction cups which allows it to grip onto prey \u2013 as well as providing an excellent sense of taste and smell. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Nomura\u2019s jellyfish
\n\"DiverA diver and a Nomura’s jellyfish in Japan – Getty<\/p>\n

As one of the largest jellyfish in the world, Nomura\u2019s jellyfish can reach up to 2m in diameter \u2013 and its tentacles are long, too. It\u2019s primarily found in the waters between China and Japan and mainly feeds on zooplankton and some larger fish.<\/p>\n

Giant squid
\n\"GiantGiant squid are usually found in the deep sea, but occasionally come to the surface as they are dying – Getty<\/p>\n

Giant squid have eight arms but use their two feeding tentacles to snatch prey. According to the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s Ocean Portal<\/a>, giant squids have tentacles that are often double the total length of the giant squid on their own, which allows them to take prey up to 10m (33ft) away.<\/p>\n

Colossal squid<\/p>\n

The colossal squid<\/a> is the largest squid in terms of mass, weighing in at 495kg. The squid\u2019s tentacles are only released when catching prey, but stretched out, the colossal squid measures up to 7m (23ft) long. It has rotating hooks on its tentacles, making it unique among squids (other have hooks but these do not rotate).<\/p>\n

Lion\u2019s mane jellyfish
\n\"UnderwaterLion’s mane jellyfish in Alaska – Getty<\/p>\n

The animal with the longest tentacles is also one of the biggest jellyfish in the world<\/a>: the lion\u2019s mane jellyfish. It has hundreds of tentacles that can reach 30m (98ft) in length which are full of stinging cells. They use these lengthy tentacles to catch fish, as well as smaller jellyfish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When we think of tentacled animals, we usually think of marine creatures. But many other species have them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-260197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}