The Chiroteuthidae are a family of deep-sea squid, generally small to medium in size, rather soft and gelatinous, and slow moving. They are found in most temperate and tropical oceans, but are known primarily from the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Indo-Pacific. The family is represented by approximately 12 species and four subspecies in four genera, two of which are monotypic. They are sometimes known collectively as whip-lash squid, but this common name is also applied to the Mastigoteuthidae, which are sometimes treated as a subfamily (Mastigoteuthinae) of Chiroteuthidae.