Is a squid an octopus?

When many people see a squid for the first time, they think it is an octopus. Actually, it’s not. Although octopus is also a deep-sea animal and is also included in people’s diet, squid and octopus are different. If we compare the two, we can see that there are obvious differences in their appearance and color. Not to mention the differences in nutritional value and living habits.

Squid, also known as squid and cuttlefish, is an animal of the phylum Mollusca, class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleus, order Decapoda, order Sciuridae, suborder Osmoothia. The body is cone-shaped, pale with light brown spots, a big head, 10 tentacles in the front, and a triangular fleshy fin at the tail end. They often swim in groups in the ocean at a depth of about 20 meters. There are two kinds of squids seen in the market at present: one is the squid with a fatter body, which is called "calamari"; the other is the squid with a slender body, which is called "cuttlefish". The small squid is commonly known as "small tube". Squid is edible. We often see grilled squid, which tastes delicious and is a very tasty delicacy.

There is a pair of well-developed gills on both sides of the head surrounding the mouth. It often moves in the middle and upper layers of shallow seas, with a vertical movement range of more than 100 meters. It has a slender, long conical body and feeds on krill, sardines, silversides, small male fish, etc. It itself is prey to ferocious fish. The eggs mature and are laid in batches. The eggs are enclosed in a gelatinous egg sheath. Each egg sheath contains a few to hundreds of eggs, depending on the species. The number of eggs laid by different species also varies greatly, ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. The squid has two gills as respiratory organs; the body is divided into a head and a very short neck. The Chinese squid (commonly known as "squid") has tender meat and its dried product is called "dried squid". The meat is of excellent quality and it is well-known in the domestic and foreign seafood markets, with an annual output of 40,000 to 50,000 tons. The main fishing grounds are in the Beibu Gulf of Hainan, China, southern Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, the Bohai Bay of Hebei and the coastal waters of Guangxi, as well as the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. Among them, the squid produced in the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea and the Bohai Bay are the best.

Squids, although they are usually called fish, are actually not fish, but mollusks that live in the ocean. They have a slender, long conical body with a suction cup at the front. Squids have two gills as respiratory organs; their body is divided into a head, a very short neck and a trunk. The body is slender and tapered, with two of the species being longer. In taxonomy, squid belongs to the phylum Mollusca, class Cephalopoda, subclass Dibranchia, order Decapoda. There is a pair of well-developed eyes and arms and legs surrounding the mouth on both sides of the head.

It often moves in the middle and upper layers of shallow seas, and its vertical movement range can reach over 100 meters. It feeds on krill, sardines, silversides, small mullets, etc., and is itself prey to fierce fish.

The eggs mature and are laid in batches. The eggs are enclosed in a gelatinous egg sheath. Each egg sheath contains a few to hundreds of eggs, depending on the species. The number of eggs laid by different species also varies greatly, ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

Chinese squid (commonly known as "squid") has an annual production of 40,000 to 50,000 tons. Its main fishing grounds are in the Bohai Sea of ​​China, southern Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong and Guangxi coasts, as well as the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand coasts.