Squid

Squid are fast-swimming, soft-bodied hunters known for changing colour in an instant. In this app the group includes the bigfin reef squid, the Caribbean reef squid, and the European squid.

Look for a torpedo-shaped, soft-bodied animal with eight arms plus two longer tentacles, often hovering just above the reef or drifting in open water. The two extra-long tentacles, absent in octopuses, are the mark that settles it. Members are told apart mainly by size, fin shape, and colour pattern.

Squid have a long, soft body called a mantle, with a fin running along each side. Around the mouth are eight arms and two longer, retractable tentacles, all lined with sucker discs used to grip prey. Size varies a great deal between species.

Squid live in oceans worldwide, from shallow reefs and open water near the surface to the deep sea.

Squid can change the colour and pattern of their skin within milliseconds to match their surroundings, using special cells called chromatophores. This camouflage helps them hide from predators and sneak up on prey.

Squid are carnivores that hunt by sight or touch, shooting out their two long tentacles to grab prey and pull it back to their arms. They mainly eat plankton, small fish, and other small animals, and some also eat other squid.

Squid lay large, yolk-rich eggs that develop without a separate larval stage. Most squid are short-lived, growing fast over about one to three years and dying soon after spawning.

• 

  Atlantic brief squid

  Lolliguncula brevis

• 

  Bigfin reef squid

  Sepioteuthis lessoniana

• 

  Caribbean Reef Squid

  Sepioteuthis sepioidea

• 

  European squid

  Loligo vulgaris

• 

  Longfin Inshore Squid

  Doryteuthis pealeii

• 

  Opalescent Inshore Squid

  Doryteuthis opalescens