Little squid (Alloteuthis media)

Distribution data supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). To interrogate UK data visit the NBN Atlas.Map Help

Summary

Description

Body grows to 200 mm long with fins less than half the mantle length. Arms and tentacles are long and slender. The lateral mantle edge is oblique, not straight as in Alloteuthis subulata.

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

All British and Irish coasts.

Global distribution

Eastern Atlantic; Irish Sea, English Channel south into the Mediterranean Sea.

Habitat

Found over sandy and muddy grounds

Depth range

20-200 m

Identifying features

  • Mantle long, relatively narrow, its posterior end drawn out into a narrow, pointed tail.
  • Fins heart shaped, their lateral angles rounded, posterior borders concave, extending posteriorly along tail.
  • Buccal suckers absent.
  • Tentacles long and robust.

Additional information

Also commonly known as the midsize squid.

Listed by

- none -

Further information sources

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Bibliography

  1. Boyle, P.R. & Pierce, G.J., 1994. Fishery biology of northeast Atlantic squid: an overview. Fisheries Research, 21(Special Issue), 1-15.

  2. Hayward, P., Nelson-Smith, T. & Shields, C. 1996. Collins pocket guide. Sea shore of Britain and northern Europe. London: HarperCollins.

  3. Howson, C.M. & Picton, B.E., 1997. The species directory of the marine fauna and flora of the British Isles and surrounding seas. Belfast: Ulster Museum. [Ulster Museum publication, no. 276.]

  4. Miramand, P. & Bentley, D., 1992. Concentration and distribution of heavy metals in tissues of two cephalopods, Eledone cirrhosa and Sepia officinalis, from the French coast of the English Channel. Marine Biology, 114, 407-414.

  5. Roper, C.F.E., Sweeney, M.J. & Nauen, C.E., 1984. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 3. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species of interest to fisheries. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 125, 3, 277. Avaliable: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ac479e/ac479e00.htm

Datasets

  1. Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 2023. Mollusc (marine) records for Great Britain and Ireland. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/aurwcz accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-09-27.

  2. NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Atlas. Available from: https://www.nbnatlas.org.

  3. OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System),  2024. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2024-12-26

Citation

This review can be cited as:

Wilson, E. 1999. Alloteuthis media Little squid. In Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 26-12-2024]. Available from: https://marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1112

Last Updated: 30/04/1999