Southern shortfin squid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Southern shortfin squidIllex coindetii |
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| A young female (left) and an adult male (right) Southern shortfin squid | |
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| A preserved Southern shortfin squid | |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Oegopsida |
| Family: | Ommastrephidae |
| Genus: | Illex |
| Species: |
I. coindetii
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| Binomial name | |
| Illex coindetii (Vérany, 1837)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Illex coindetii, also called the southern shortfin squid or broadtail shortfin squid, is a type of squid. These squids live near the coast in the Mediterranean Sea. You can also find them on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean. They belong to a group of squids called Ommastrephidae.
Contents
About the Southern Shortfin Squid
Adult Southern shortfin squids can look quite different depending on where they live. Females are usually bigger than males. This difference in size between males and females is called sexual dimorphism.
The longest body length (called mantle length) ever recorded for a male was 32 cm. For females, it was 37 cm. But these are very large squids! Most males are about 18 to 20 cm long. Most females are about 25 to 27 cm long.
Arms and Tentacles
These squids have eight arms. Each arm has two rows of suckers with small teeth. The longest arm on a male is about half to almost all of its body length. On females, it's about half of their body length.
They also have two long tentacles. These tentacles have eight rows of suckers on their tips. The biggest suckers on the tip have notches around their edges.
Male squids have a special arm called a hectocotylus. It's usually the fourth arm on the left or right side. This arm is used for reproduction. The suckers on the end of this special arm are replaced with small flaps and bumps.
Body Shape
The main body of the squid, called the mantle, is shaped like a tube. It's widest near the front. The fins are shaped like diamonds. They are about half to two-thirds the width of the mantle.
Like other squids in their group, Illex coindetii do not have photophores. These are special organs that create light, like a bioluminescent glow.
Squid Family Tree
The Southern shortfin squid was first described in 1837. A French scientist named Jean Baptiste Vérany gave it the name Loligo coindetii. He found the first one in the Mediterranean Sea near Nice, France.
Illex coindetii is one of four types of squids in the Illex group. This group is part of the important squid family Ommastrephidae. Even though these squids look different in various places, scientists confirmed in 1998 that they are all the same species.
Where They Live
Illex coindetii is the most common type of squid in the Illex group. You can find them in the Mediterranean Sea. They also live on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. Their range goes from the Bristol Channel in the north all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. They are also found along the coasts of Venezuela, Suriname, and Namibia.
Recently, new groups of these squids have been found in the North Sea. Scientists think they are doing well there because of overfishing of other species. Also, warmer sea temperatures might be speeding up their life cycles.
Their Home in the Ocean
These squids live in different parts of the ocean. They can be found near the coast (called neritic), in the open ocean (called oceanic), and on the seafloor (called benthic).
They usually live at depths of 200 to 600 meters in the western Atlantic. In the Mediterranean, they are found at 60 to 400 meters deep. The deepest they have ever been found is about 1000 meters.
Life and Habits
Southern shortfin squids often live on muddy, sandy, or silty ocean bottoms. They sometimes live near sea pens, which are soft corals. Bigger squids tend to live in deeper water, while smaller ones are in shallower water.
Some groups of these squids move to shallower waters in the spring. Then they move to deeper waters in the winter. They also do something called diel vertical migration. This means they stay in deeper waters during the day. At night, they swim up closer to the surface.
What They Eat
Illex coindetii mainly eat fish, crustaceans (like krill), and other squids. Sometimes, they also eat arrow worms and tunicates. They are also known to eat other squids of their own kind, which is called cannibalism.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
There are usually about the same number of male and female squids. These squids lay eggs all year round. However, there are more eggs laid in spring and summer in some areas.
Males produce many small packets of sperm called spermatophores. They can make between 81 and 1,555 of these. Bigger males make more and larger spermatophores. Females can mate more than once. They can have up to 800,000 eggs inside them.
The eggs are found in large, jelly-like balls that float in the water. These balls can be about one meter wide. Each egg is very tiny, about 0.8 to 1.3 mm across. The eggs hatch after 10 to 14 days.
The baby squids, called paralarvae, are active swimmers. They have a special fused tentacle called a "proboscis." This proboscis is about half to three-quarters of their body length. As the paralarvae grow, this proboscis splits into two separate tentacles.
Why They Are Important
The Southern shortfin squid is one of the main types of squid caught for people to eat. This is especially true in places like Spain and Portugal. Another important squid caught there is the lesser flying squid.
In the Mediterranean Sea, these squids are often caught by accident. This is called "by-catch." They are caught along with other squids like the European flying squid.
 | Delilah Pierce |
 | Gordon Parks |
 | Augusta Savage |
 | Charles Ethan Porter |
