European squid propulsion. The posterior border is slightly concave. The head is relatively small and has large eyes which are covered with a transparent membrane. Like almost all squid, this species has ten limbs surrounding the mouth and beak: eight are relatively short arms, and two, which form the tentacles, are long, as they are used to catch prey. The fourth left arm of males is a hectocotylus. The European squid can grow up to 30–40 cm in the mantle length, but more usually they are 15–25 cm long. The males are generally bigger than the females and exhibit more rapid rates
Magnoteuthis microlucens by NELHA operations manager Jan War, a reference to the fact that the specimen had only eight arms, like an octopus, rather than the eight arms and two tentacles of most squid. An examination of the specimen conducted by Richard Young of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, however, concluded that it is was an unnamed species of the genus "Mastigoteuthis". The specimen was likely missing its tentacles due to them being torn off during capture. It was formally described in 2008 as "Mastigoteuthis microlucens". Magnoteuthis microlucens Magnoteuthis microlucens is a species of squid; the most common species of "Mastigoteuthis"