#4697 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs
European Squid
🇳🇱 Gewone pijlinktvis ·Loligo vulgaris
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © josepvilanova · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © josepvilanova · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © josepvilanova · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © josepvilanova · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Ana Santos · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The European squid or common squid ( Loligo vulgaris ) is a large squid belonging to the family Loliginidae. It occurs abundantly in coastal waters from the North Sea to at least the west coast of Africa. This species lives from sea level to depths of 500 m (1,600 ft). Its mantle is up to 40 cm (16 in) long. The species is extensively exploited by commercial fisheries.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 14 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 1,125 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck in 1798 (228 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- European Squid
- Nederlands
- Gewone pijlinktvis
- scientific name
- Loligo vulgaris
- class
- Cephalopoda
- order
- Myopsida
- family
- Loliginidae
- IUCN Red List
- DD · data deficient
- sightings in NL
- 14
- sightings in Europe
- 546
- sightings worldwide
- 1,125
- GBIF records in NL
- 2,191
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1798 by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
IUCN in Dutch: onvoldoende gegevens. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 324558, Wikidata Q1232698, GBIF 2290374, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.