For once the fishermen’s tale did not do their catch justice.

Crew on board the San Aspiring, a New Zealand fishing boat, have landed what is believed to be the biggest squid ever caught.

The mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, better known as the colossal squid, is estimated to weigh 450kg (990lb) and is 10m (33ft) long - the same length as a London bus.

It is about 150kg heavier than the next biggest specimen ever found.

The San Aspiring was fishing in the Ross Sea near Antarctica and the squid was dining on a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep.

The boat's skipper, John Bennett, said: “He just appeared as a great, big, dark shape coming out of the depths. He was wrapped around a 30-kilogram toothfish and he was just munching away on it.

“We stopped hauling the line and got it alongside the ship, and we decided it was really in too poor a condition to release, so we decided we would get a cargo net around it and lift it aboard."

Mr Bennett said the squid probably latched onto the toothfish at a depth of 1,800 metres.

Jim Anderton, the New Zealand Fisheries Minister, who announced the catch, said the colossal squid had been frozen and would be preserved for scientific study.

“It is likely that it is the first intact adult male colossal squid to ever be successfully landed.

“The scientific community will be very interested in this amazing creature," Mr Anderton said, describing the colossal squid as “as one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean”.

Colossal squid

- Colossal squid are found in Antarctic waters and are not related to the giant squid, or architeuthis species. Giant squid also grow up to 12m, but are not as heavy.

- The colossal squid are equipped with suckers lined with small teeth. Its beak is the largest known of any squid, and it is also believed to have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom.

- Its known range extends thousands of miles northward from Antarctica across the whole Southern Ocean to the southern tips of Latin America, South Africa and New Zealand.

- Based on capture depths of a few specimens, as well as beaks found in sperm whale stomachs, the adult squid ranges at least to a depth of 2,200m, while juveniles can go as deep as 1,000m.

- Many sperm whales carry scars on their backs believed to be caused by the hooks of colossal squid, which are widely hunted by the whales.

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