North Pacific bobtail squid

About this species

Rossia pacifica, also known as the stubby squid, is a species of bobtail squid native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Sightings usually occur in winter on sandy slopes away from strong currents in moderately shallow water. In the summer, they move to deeper waters where they reproduce. The female cements the egg capsules under a stone or in some other concealed location, and both male and female die soon after breeding.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Rossia pacifica”, 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: 53 records
February: 59 records
March: 82 records
April: 383 records
May: 3,047 records
June: 358 records
July: 504 records
August: 159 records
September: 241 records
October: 51 records
November: 27 records
December: 17 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 52–228 m · Deepest record: 1,086.5 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 24 records
20–30 m: 42 records
30–40 m: 18 records
40–50 m: 20 records
50–60 m: 20 records
60–70 m: 19 records
70–80 m: 29 records
80–90 m: 26 records
90–100 m: 56 records
100–110 m: 57 records
110+ m: 793 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 3–19 °C

2–4 °C: 2 records
4–6 °C: 1 records
6–8 °C: 2 records
8–10 °C: 131 records
10–12 °C: 816 records
12–14 °C: 7 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alicia Christman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Erin McKittrick, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) dpcmiller, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: North Pacific bobtail squid, Pacific bob-tailed squid, eastern pacific bobtail, Stubby Bobtail, Stubby Squid

Names in 3 more languages

German: Pazifische Rossie
Japanese: ボウズイカ
Korean: 주머니귀오징어

Similar species

Rossia mollicella
Southern bobtail squid
Euprymna tasmanica
Double-ear bobtail
Euprymna berryi
Hawaiian Bobtail
Euprymna scolopes
Butterfly Bobtail
Lusepiola birostrata
Amphorateuthis alveatus

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).
5,799 open-data records from 1887 to 2026.
Species data updated November 6, 2026.