Illex illecebrosus

• Main Author: O´Dor, R. K.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Academic Press 1983
• Subjects: Mercer; Newfoundland; Roper; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33816/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33816/7/476.pdf

Four closely- related species from the genus Illex have been described in the western Atlantic (Roper et al., 1969): Illex argentinus in the Southern Hemisphere and I. coindetti, I. oxygonius and I. iflecebrosus in the Northern. The ranges of the latter three overlap in the south, but I. iflecebrosus is the only representative from Delaware Bay to the Labrador Sea. In this northern region it is very common (Lu , 1973); in some years its biomass has been estimated at up to 3 000 000 metric tons (t) (Froerman, 1980). Its economic importance as bait for the Grand Banks cod fishery is probably centuries old and records of the inshore jig fishery for this purpose go back to the 1800s (Squires, 1957; Mercer, 1973a); Squires (1957) has given an extensive account of the biology of this squid during the six months it spends in shore near Newfoundland; however, until recently the rest of the life cycle, including the reproductive and juvenile stages, was unknown.