To many of us who dangle a line, a squid is a squid is a squid. But in reality, there are quite a few species of squid that an Australian angler might catch. These might include several types of arrow squid, bigfin reef squid and southern calamari. And to clear up some misconceptions from the start, a calamari is definitely a squid, but not all squid are calamari. On the other hand, cuttlefish, while closely related to squid, are not squid. Got it?
 
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

The squid under the spotlight this month is the red arrow squid, also known as Gould’s squid, Nototodarus gouldii. This is a long squid which, with its triangular fins at the ‘pointy end’, does indeed resemble an arrow. Like all squids, it has ten arms, or tentacles, two of which are much longer than the others. These are armed with large suckers and are used to shoot out and seize prey.

DISTRIBUTION AND MOVEMENTS The red arrow squid occurs around the southern half of Australia, from about Exmouth in the west to Brisbane in the east. Its distribution includes the whole Tasmanian coast and the north island of New Zealand. Little is known about the movements of any of the squids but some tagging of arrow squid in NZ suggests that they travel an average of about 1.1km per day with a range of 0.14 to 5.6km per day.

REPRODUCTION

The reproduction of squid and their relatives is an intriguing and in some ways, seemingly alien procedure. The male reproductive organ is actually one of its tentacles which it inserts into the mantle cavity of the female, injecting a packet of sperm (called a spermatophore). In the case of some octopuses, the whole tentacle is left inside the female, where it continues to move as if it were a living organism. Having mated once in their life, the males then die, as do the females once they have produced their eggs. Recently, the egg masses of arrow squid were observed for the first time in underwater caves in NZ. The eggs are embedded in spheres of jelly, up to two metres in diameter, and it is thought that trawling may be a major source of damage to these eggs. Baby arrow squid look very different to the adults. Known as rhynchoteuthion (‘nose-squid’) larvae, they lack feeding tentacles with the arms being fused into a tube rimmed by suckers.

SIZE AND GROWTH

Arrow squid grow to a reasonably large size of about 50cm and as is the case with most members of the group, females grow to a larger size than males. Growth rate is very rapid – as much as 4.5cm per month. As indicated, all of the cephalopods, including squids, have remarkably short life spans with most living for a maximum of one or two years.

SPORTING AND EATING QUALITIES

Catching squid is one of the joys of fishing, and can be quite an art in its own right. The Japanese have developed squid lures over time, resulting in the ready availability of squid jigs which are easy to use and deadly in their effect. For many lovers of seafood, squid and other cephalopods rate very highly. Simple cooking is often best, and in the case of squid, this is very true. Salt and pepper squid has become very popular. Slice cleaned squid tubes into strips, rather than rings. Shake in a plastic bag containing plain and rice flour, plus some ground up szechuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, sea salt and chilli flakes. Shallow fry very briefly in peanut oil, sprinkle with lemon juice or dip into a mixture of light soy sauce and lime juice for a taste sensation.