Octopods Nautilids Cuttlefishes Squids and Relatives: Cephalopoda

Physical characteristics: The mantle is of variable color with brown, red, purplish, and yellow speckles. It is cylinder-shaped, tapered toward the rear, and measures about 17 inches (430 millimeters) long, and 3.62 inches (92 millimeters) wide. The head has a large pair of eyes that are covered by a clear membrane. The eight tentacles are about half the length of the mantle, while the pair of tentaclelike appendages is about two-thirds its length. The triangular fins on each side of the rear end are each about half the length of the mantle.

Geographic range: This species is found in the Western Atlantic continental shelf and upper slope waters from Nova Scotia to Venezuela, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

Females lay their eggs in jelly-covered, fingerlike strands attached to solid surfaces at depths down to 820 feet (250 meters). The strands are often bunched together in large masses and are called "sea mops." (Andrew J. Martinez/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

Habitat: They live near the ocean surface and in shallow waters in summer, but move to depths of 92 to 1,200 feet (28 to 366 meters) in winter. Adults live on the ocean bottom during the day and swim toward the surface at night.

Diet: They eat crustaceans, fishes, and other squids.

Behavior and reproduction: They migrate north and closer to the shore in summer to reproduce, returning to deeper, more southerly water in fall and winter.

Females lay their eggs in jelly-covered, fingerlike strands attached to solid surfaces at depths down to 820 feet (250 meters). The strands are often bunched together in large masses and are called "sea mops." The hatchlings do not resemble the adults and are planktonic.

Longfin inshore squid and people: They are harvested as food for humans and are also used as study animals by scientists looking at animal behavior and the workings of the nervous system.

Conservation status: The longfin inshore squid is not considered threatened or endangered. ∎