Steenstrup, 1856
Description:
Body is elongate, solid and fleshy, bluntly rounded posteriorly; up to 600 mm long, maximum mantle length about 350 mm. Dorsal surfaces densely pigmented reddish brown, ventral surfaces lighter. Fins are angular, forming an elongate diamond shape in dorsal view, comprising about two-thirds of total body length. Anterior dorsal edge of mantle produced as a blunt lobe extending to a point just posterior to eyes. Arms about twice the length of body, angular in section, ventral pair particularly broad and flat; bearing two longitudinal rows of suckers. Tentacle club with median suckers of the middle region less than twice the diameter of adjacent marginal suckers. Large club suckers with teeth over entire ring. Rings of small suckers on buccal membrane lappets distally with 12-15 obtuse teeth.
Habitat:
In coastal waters and offshore. The common squid of commercial fisheries.
Distribution:
From central Norway to Cape Blanc, the Canaries, and Mediterranean Sea, but fairly rare to the south from the Gulf of Biscay. Widespread and abundant, around the whole of the British Isles (Distr. L. forbesi).