Atlantic brief squid
Lolliguncula brevis
Opalescent Inshore Squid
Doryteuthis opalescens
About
The opalescent inshore squid is a fast, schooling hunter with a body that can flash from pale bluish-white to deep red in an instant, weighing up to 148 g.
Also known as: california market squid
- Weight
- max 148 g
- Depth
- up to 180 m
How to tell it apart
This squid looks almost identical to two close relatives found elsewhere, Doryteuthis pealeii and Loligo gahi, and no single visible mark reliably tells them apart. Its fast colour changes make body colour an unreliable guide too.
Appearance
The body is long and slender, four to five times longer than it is wide, with fins as long as they are wide. It carries eight arms and two longer tentacles, each tentacle ending in a club lined with suckers. Colour normally runs from bluish-white to mottled brown and gold, but the squid can flush dark red or brown in seconds when it feels threatened or is feeding.
Behaviour
This squid lives from about 20 to 180 m deep and hunts smaller fish, crabs, shrimp, and even other squid, snaring them with its long tentacles. It gathers in schools that packs tighter at night than during the day, and it lives only 6 to 9 months from hatching to death.
Did you know?
Females glue their egg capsules into the sand in a protein sheath, and bacteria growing between its layers may work like a natural antibiotic, protecting the eggs from fungus.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
