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Scary squid turned into tasty treat

The Humboldt squid is the stuff of seafaring legends, something Captain Nemo would battle in a Jules Verne novel. But Dosidicus gigas is not a figment of someone's imagination.

The Humboldt squid is the stuff of seafaring legends, something Captain Nemo would battle in a Jules Verne novel. But

Dosidicus gigas

is not a figment of someone's imagination.

These grotesque creatures, which can reach 7 feet in length and weigh more than 100 pounds, are known cannibals and can tear off a fisherman's hand with a razor-sharp beak, dousing prey with black ink. Terrifying, yes, but chefs are turning the tables on 30- to 50-pounders.

"There's plenty of protein there. I personally eat it, and it tastes fine," said Lou Zeidberg, a marine scientist at Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey, Calif., who studies the giant squid. "A lot of seafood is just a means of conveyance for tartar sauce."

The Humboldt squid showed up along the Central California Coast in mass in 2002 during an El Niño weather pattern. Normally found in warmer waters off Mexico, the squid liked the new waters and have stuck around.

According to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, the Humboldt squid is considered sustainable, although the state of the overall population is unknown, and enforcement of fishery regulations is minimal.