''Illex illecebrosus'', commonly known as the northern shortfin squid, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

neritic The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Ommastrephidae Ommastrephidae is a family (biology), family of squid containing three subfamilies, 11 genus, genera, and over 20 species. They are widely distributed globally and are extensively fished for food. One species, ''Todarodes pacificus'', comprised a ...

. Squids of the genus Illex account for 65% of the world's cephalopod captures. Illex is formed by four taxa distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean (I. argentinus, I. coindetii, I. illecebrosus and I. oxygonius), whose identification and phylogenetic relationships based on morphological characters remain controversial.They are found in the northwest

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, from off the coast of eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, and west of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They are a highly migratory and short-lived species, with lifespans of less than a year. They are commercially important and are fished extensively (primarily by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

), mostly for the Canadian and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese markets. Northern shortfin squid is a migratory species of squid with a distribution ranging from Florida Straits to Newfoundland in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.Dawe, E.G. and L.C. Hendrickson. 1998. A review of the biology, population dynamics, and exploitation of short-finned squid in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, in relation to assessment and management of the resource. Northwest Atl. Fish. Organ. (NAFO) Sci. Counc. Res. Doc. 98/59. 33 p. The species is native to Canada, Greenland, Iceland and United States. The species has an average lifespan between 1–1.5 years in which most live less than a year.Squires, H.J. 1967. Growth and hypothetical age of the Newfoundland bait squid, ''Illex illecebrosus illecebrosus''. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 24: 1209- 1217. The location of the fishery of the squid is mainly in Mid-Atlantic Bight from between summer and fall.

Description

Northern shortfin squid is a moderately-sized squid with females ranging from in mantle length while males are generally smaller with mantle length ranging from . Northern shortfin squid has short tentacles with a long and narrow head which is connected to the long mantle. The fins are shorter in length parallel to the mantle yet the length of the fins perpendicular to the mantle are about twice the length. The squid is reddish brown to purple in color and there is higher opacity in the head and mantle while the rest of the body are yellowish green tinted.

Migration & Distribution

Northern shortfin squid migrate from boreal and temperate waters to subtropical waters where they travel as far as 1,000 miles. The species is highly migratory as there are seasonal distribution patterns. The range of the species is between 66°N and 29°N where they are distributed in central Florida, Newfoundland and Labrador Spaws in South of Cape Hatteras to central Florida. They settle in oceanic and neritic zone of the ocean. There is high abundance of the species in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Diet and feeding

The species mainly feeds on fish and crustaceans but it undergoes a shift from a crustacean dominated diet to a mainly fish diet. It feeds at night near the upper layers of water. Like other species of squid,

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

also occurs in smaller squids by larger squids. Based on the commercial catch of squid in Newfoundland in 1979, it was found that most squid prey on fish that are valuable for the market. The species feeds on many species of fish including

Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (: cod; ''Gadus morhua'') is a fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as '' cod'' or ''codling''.hake Hake is the common name for fish in the Merlucciidae family of the northern and southern oceans and the Phycidae family of the northern oceans. Hake is a commercially important fish in the same taxonomic order, Gadiformes, as cod and haddo ...

capelin The capelin or caplin (''Mallotus villosus'') is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capel ...

, etc., in which their otoliths are found in the squid's stomach.

Reproduction and growth

Spawning season for northern shortfin squid happens all year round. There are higher chances for the species to survive recruitment when it is spawned in the winter season because of the condition provided being optimal for the growth which supports the ability for the squid to perform spawning migration. The months for hatching range from June to December where it is more prevalent in July, August, September, October and November.Dawe, E.G., E.L. Dalley, and W.W. Lidster. 1997. Fish prey spectrum of short-finned squid (''Illex illecebrosus'') at Newfoundland. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54 (Suppl. 1): 200-208. It is found that sex does not affect the growth rate of the total body mass yet the month of hatching affects the growth rate to increase. Females grow faster compared to males and there is a linear relationship in the growth rate of the squid in which there is a swift growth measured by the increase of mantle length. Even so, the condition of the habitat also affects the differing growth rate of both sexes as male grow faster than females in Newfoundland and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

n waters. Juveniles range from the size of while adults may reach up to . It is found that northern shortfin squid who lives in warmer waters grow more rapidly especially in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Predation

Northern shortfin squid has developed behavior such as ink jetting,Major, P.F. 1986. Notes on a predator-prey interaction between common

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s (''Delphinus delphis'') and short-finned squid (''Illex illecebrosus'') in Lydonia Submarine Canyon, western North Atlantic Ocean. J. Mammal. 67 (4): 769-770. schooling and camouflaging as protection to prevent predation by larger fish species such as

bluefin tuna Bluefin tuna is a common name used to refer to several species of tuna of the genus ''Thunnus''. {{Animal common name Commercial fish Thunnus Fish common names ...

, red and silver hake. Mammals such as

pilot whale Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus ''Globicephala''. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the long-finned pilot whale (''G. melas'') and the short-finned pilot whale (''G. macrorhynchus''). The two are not readily distinguish ...

s and dolphins also prey on the species.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1861567 Illex Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Marine molluscs of Europe Marine molluscs of North America Cephalopods of North America Fauna of Greenland Fauna of Iceland Molluscs of the United States Cephalopods described in 1821 Cephalopods of Europe