California Market Squid or Opalescent Squid Euprymna scalopes Berry, 1913. Collected Species Lolliguncula brevis Blainville, 1823. Common Bay Squid or Thumbstall Squid Nautilus pompilius Linnaeus, 1758. Common Squid Loligo plei Blainville, 1823. The NRCC cultures the bigfin reef squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana through its entire life cycle and makes all developmental stages available for a broad range of biomedical research.
All life stages are laboratory adapted and tolerant of handling and shipping.
Squids cultured at the NRCC have been used in a variety of physiological, pharmaceutical and behavioral studies. Sepioteuthis lessoniana occurs in shallow coastal waters throughout the temperate to tropical Indo-Pacific region. This species is more adaptable to laboratory conditions than it's open ocean relatives Loligo pealei, Loligo forbesi and Loligo vulgaris . Cultured Sepioteuthis lessoniana typically grow to 25 cm mantle length and 500 g body weight, but specimens of 35 cm mantle length and 2 kg body weight have also been produced. The axons of Sepioteuthis lessoniana measure up to 500 mm in diameter.