what kind of squid are these?

[lowprofile]

ya they were a dark purplish red like the top of that one but with little dark dots.. turned pale white in the bucket then light purple in the sink.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

ya they were a dark purplish red like the top of that one but with little dark dots.. turned pale white in the bucket then light purple in the sink.

Humbolts no doubt. They change color and color patterns quite a bit, and can vary from red to orange, to black to white. You get the record for the smallest ones. I caught some small ones around five pounds off Dana a few years back but I have never seen little ones like that before.

Jim

[dos ballenas]

yea Jim is right they are def Humbolt Squid. The little ones have been around La Jolla of and on for months now.

In regards to their size and spawning, I have found much smaller Humbolt squid in the stomach contents from bluefin, albacore, and even yellowfin tuna caught locally in recent years. Although this still doesn't prove that they are successfully spawning locally. I believe they have found a few adults that were gravid, but it didn't appears that they were actively spawning... but who knows really

Several people are doing research on these guys here in La Jolla... but not at Scripps. The researchers just up the hill from Scripp's at The National Marine Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center are the ones you would want to donate the squid to should you be interested. You can call me and I would gladly pick them up at the launch.

Interestingly enough, the Humbolt that I landed in early December was Loligo opanescnes (market squid). The Humbolts have voracious appetites. I would be making market squid for bait and then out of nowhere they would diappear and it would be WFO jumbos!

[oneyedeer]

cuttlefish?