European squid

A slim, torpedo-shaped cephalopod, translucent pinkish-white in a torch beam and stippled all over with tiny red-brown chromatophores that flicker on and off like static. Two long triangular fins occupy roughly the rear two thirds of the mantle and meet in a point at the tail, giving the classic dart outline. There are eight arms and two much longer feeding tentacles that stay retracted until the strike. The eyes are large and dark with a round pupil. Mantle length is usually 15 to 30 cm here; large males reach about 40 to 45 cm.

Unlike octopus and cuttlefish this is an open-water animal. It travels in loose schools, hangs in mid-water with the fins undulating, and can jet backwards faster than you can follow it. Divers meet it mostly at night, when squid come up and gather around boat lights and torch beams to pick off the small fish and shrimps the light attracts, and occasionally by day as a school passing over a deep reef.

Around Malta it spawns mainly from late autumn through spring, laying finger-like gelatinous egg strands in big communal bundles on sand and rubble between roughly 20 and 40 m. Divers who find one of these white egg mops should recognise it for what it is and keep clear. Klamar is a standard item on Maltese menus and a favourite target of night fishers using lit jigs off the breakwaters.