page_title: Doryteuthis opalescens
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Doryteuthis opalescens / Description
caption_attribution_description: Loligo opalescens
context_page_description: Doryteuthis opalescens, the opalescent inshore squid is a small squid in the family Loliginidae. It is a myopsid squid, which is the near shore group and that means that they have corneas over their eyes. The species lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Mexico's Baja California peninsula to Alaska, United States, and as an inshore squid it can be found with a range of 200 miles off the coast.
context_section_description: Adult Doryteuthis opalescens can reach a total size of 28 cm.  Males are typically larger with a mantle length of 13–19 cm, while females are 12–18 cm in mantle length. The mantle of D. opalescens is not fused to the head and its body is 4 to 5 times longer than it is wide, with fins equal in both length and width. This squid has 8 arms with 2 longer tentacles ending in tentacular clubs equipped with suckers at their ends. The tentacular clubs are narrow with 4 rows of suckers and 2 large rows in the center of the tentacular club bordered by outer rows of smaller suckers. The 8 arms have only 2 rows of alternating suckers running down their length. In male D. opalescens, the left ventral arm is specialized or “hectocotylized” for spermatophore transfer during mating. The eyes of D. opalescens are covered with a non-perforated membrane known as a cornea which is a signature of myopsid squid. The color of D. opalescens can range from white to brown, with the animals able to change their color shades using chromatophores depending on mood and for camouflage. They are normally a bluish-white to mottled brown and gold, and they change to dark red or brown when excited, frightened or feeding.
caption: Dorsal (top) and ventral views of adult
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