Squid Squid Squid are cephalopods in the order Teuthida with elongated bodies, large eyes, eight arms and two tentacles. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin. Squid can change colour for camouflage and signalling. Some species are bioluminescent, using their light for counter-illumination camouflage. Squid are members of the class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleoidea. The squid orders Myopsida and Oegopsida are in the superorder Decapodiformes (from the Greek for "ten-legged"). Two
Bigfin reef squid (particularly dolphins), who use echolocation to find prey. Bigfin reef squids exhibit two most common social body patterning and posturing behaviours related to mating. The first is dubbed "accentuated gonads", in which they will sometimes increase the visibility of their gonads while reducing the rest of their body colouration. This makes their reproductive organs appear bright white through the transparent mantle. It may indicate the reproductive condition of the signalling squid. Another common behaviour, primarily seen in males, is dubbed "spread arms", in which the squid will slightly tilt its body forward, head down and arms spread widely and raised