Lesueur, 1821
Family characters
— Adults. Tentacular club with four rows of suckers on the manus. Arm suckers in two rows. The body is fusiform of variable shape. The fins are terminal-lateral and united posteriorly. The buccal membrane has seven lappets, usually beset with small suckers. Photophores occur rarely.
—ÊYoung. The body form of hatchlings is always bullet shaped with well developed terminal fins. Tentacles and arms are well developed; the fourth arm is larger than the first. Generally no great changes in body form from hatchling to adult. Young forms of the Subgenera Loligo and Alloteuthis are very similar and therefore difficult to distinguish at the species level.
Size
Adult mantle length 50-900 mm.
Distribution
Worldwide, except polar regions.
Depth range
Neritic waters.
[After Hanlon et al. in Sweeney et al., 1992 ]
The following species of this family occur in the region:
Alloteuthis medius
Alloteuthis subulatus
Loligo forbesii
Loligo vulgaris