Clawed calamary squid

Onychoteuthis banksii

Cephalopods
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth38–800 m
Water temperature8–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, August, and September
How commonOccasional

About this species

Onychoteuthis banksii, the common clubhook squid, is a species of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae. It is the type species of the genus Onychoteuthis. This species was thought to have a worldwide distribution but with the revision of the genus Onychoteuthis in 2010, it is now accepted that Onychoteuthis banksii is restricted to the central and northern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico while a recently described species, Onychoteuthis horstkottei, is found in the Pacific Ocean. The type locality is the Gulf of Guinea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Onychoteuthis banksii”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 29 records
February: 50 records
March: 81 records
April: 74 records
May: 61 records
June: 38 records
July: 53 records
August: 80 records
September: 93 records
October: 36 records
November: 35 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 38–800 m · Deepest record: 3,500 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 23 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 17 records
50–60 m: 75 records
60–70 m: 11 records
70–80 m: 17 records
80–90 m: 8 records
90–100 m: 15 records
100–110 m: 44 records
110+ m: 249 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–30 °C

6–8 °C: 2 records
8–10 °C: 10 records
10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 16 records
14–16 °C: 32 records
16–18 °C: 26 records
18–20 °C: 125 records
20–22 °C: 155 records
22–24 °C: 161 records
24–26 °C: 73 records
26–28 °C: 147 records
28–30 °C: 30 records

Names and classification

English: Clawed calamary squid, Clawed squid, Common clubhook squid, clawed calamary squid, clawed squid, common clubhook squid, Common Clubhook Squid, Hook Squid

Names in 6 more languages

German: Gemeiner Hakenkalmar, Hakenkalmar, Krallenkalmar
Spanish: Luria ganchuda
French: Cornet crochu
Japanese: ホンツメイカ, モトツメイカ
Thai: ปลาหมึกมือตะขอใหญ่
Simplified Chinese: 爪魷魚, 班氏爪魷

Other scientific names: Loligo banksii, Loligo bianconii, Onychoteuthis fleuryi, Onychoteuthis lesueurii, Onychoteuthis molinae, Teleoteuthis carolii

Similar species

Onychoteuthis aequimanus
Onychoteuthis compacta
Onychoteuthis meridiopacifica
Greater clubhook squid
Moroteuthopsis ingens
Rugose Clubhook Squid
Onykia robsoni
African Hooked-squid
Notonykia africanae

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
832 open-data records from 1904 to 2016.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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