Biodiversity & Conservation

Little squid - Alloteuthis media

Alloteuthis media

Image - Line drawing of Alloteuthis media. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Alloteuthis media recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Alloteuthis media is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Cephalopoda Cuttlefish, nautilus, octopus & squid
Authority Linnaeus, 1758
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland All British and Irish coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found over sandy and muddy grounds
Text page icon 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.
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 icon Additional information Also commonly known as the midsize squid.

This review can be cited as follows:

Emily Wilson 1999. Alloteuthis media. Little squid. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2460>