Humboldt squid

Humboldt squid
Temporal range: Pliocene - recent[1]
A Humboldt squid swarms around ROV Tiburon, possibly attracted to its lights
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Oegopsida
Family: Ommastrephidae
Subfamily: Ommastrephinae
Genus: Dosidicus
Steenstrup, 1857
Species:
D. gigas
Binomial name
Dosidicus gigas
(d'Orbigny, 1835)[3]
Synonyms[3]
  • Ommastrephes gigas
    d'Orbigny, 1835
  • Ommastrephes giganteus
    Gray, 1849
  • Dosidicus eschrichti
    Steenstrup, 1857
  • Dosidicus steenstrupi
    Pfeffer, 1884

The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as jumbo squid or jumbo flying squid (EN), and Pota in Peru or Jibia in Chile (ES), is a large, predatory squid living in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the only known species of the genus Dosidicus of the subfamily Ommastrephinae, family Ommastrephidae.[4]

Humboldt squid typically reach a mantle length of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in), making the species the largest member of its family. They are the most important squid worldwide for commercial fisheries, with the catch predominantly landed in Chile, Peru and Mexico, however, a 2015 warming waters fishery collapse in the Gulf of California remains unrecovered.[5][6] Like other members of the subfamily Ommastrephinae, they possess chromatophores which enable them to quickly change body coloration, known as 'metachrosis’ which is the rapid flash of their skin from red to white. They have a relatively short lifespan of just 1–2 years. They have a reputation for aggression toward humans, although this behavior may only occur during feeding times.

They are most commonly found at depths of 200 to 700 m (660 to 2,300 ft), from Tierra del Fuego to California. This species is spreading north into the waters of the Pacific Northwest, in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska.

  1. ^ "Statoliths of Cenozoic teuthoid cephalopods from North America | The Palaeontological Association". www.palass.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  2. ^ Barratt, I.; Allcock, L. (2014). "Dosidicus gigas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T162959A958088. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T162959A958088.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Julian Finn (2016). "Dosidicus gigas (d'Orbigny [in 1834–1847], 1835)". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Humboldt squid in California". Gilly Lab. Fall 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  5. ^ Frawley, Timothy H; Briscoe, Dana K; Daniel, Patrick C; Britten, Gregory L; Crowder, Larry B; Robinson, Carlos J; Gilly, William F (18 July 2019). "Impacts of a shift to a warm-water regime in the Gulf of California on jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas)". ICES Journal of Marine Science: fsz133. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsz133.
  6. ^ "Jumbo squid mystery solved". EurekAlert!. July 18, 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2022.