Giant Squid left The End Records after the label felt the band should continue to tour behind "Metridium Fields", instead of writing and recording another record, something the band felt very strongly about. The band acquired San Francisco drummer, Christopher Melville Lyman, of local rock band, Turn Me On Dead Man (Alternative Tentacles). Giant Squid then entered Litho Room Studios in Seattle, WA, in August 2008 and Red Room Studios, also in Seattle, WA, in September 2008 to record their second album, "The Ichthyologist", produced by Matt Bayles (ISIS, Mastodon, Botch, Pearl Jam). Giant Squid funded the entire recording, pressing, and promotion of the album. "The Ichthyologist" was self-released on February 3, 2009, via the band's Myspace and official website as a limited edition of only 1,000 copies, featuring exclusive packaging with imagery drawn by early twentieth century biologist, Ernst Haeckel. The Ichthyologist contains guest vocal appearances by Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Agua De Annique) and Karyn Crisis (Crisis), violin by Kris Force (Amber Asylum, Neurosis), and flute by Lorraine Rath (Amber Asylum, The Gault, Worm Ouroboros), trumpet by Nate Perkins (The Lesdystics) and oboe by Cat Gratz (Jackie's sister). Despite the band's unsigned status at this point, national print music magazines such as Revolver, Decibel, and Terrorizer ran features and reviews of "The Ichthyologist", boosting sales greatly for the band. The initial 1000 copies sold out by July 2009.