[3] The European flying squid is an oceanic, neritic species of squid that can be found from the surface to depths in excess of 1000 metres and it has been taken in United Kingdom territorial waters at 4,595 m. It is occasionally recorded among the fauna of the seabed on the continental shelf or the upper continental slope, for example off northwest Africa where it is commonly found between 350–700 metres.

Large schools appear offshore near southern Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway and sometimes Scotland in the early summer, and they stay in these areas until the onset of winter.

The stranding of large numbers of European flying squid along nearby coastlines is relatively frequent in the summer months in these areas.

[3] The European flying squid is recorded in large numbers from March to May on the fishing grounds around Madeira, as well as in other areas of the eastern central Atlantic Ocean.

This species is also known to undertake daily vertical migrations being found near the sea bed or at depths during the day and moving up to the surface and near-surface waters at night, however they are caught at night in deeper waters indicating that a proportion of the population do not always undertake vertical migrations.

Squids of this species may be found solitarily or in small groups but as their trophic migration progresses they form large schools on the continental shelves in the waters of the northern Atlantic and off northwest Africa.

[3] The sex ratio of the European flying squid almost always shows a preponderance of females and there are very few males captured.

This appears to be mainly a result of ecological factors as the feeding grounds are sexually segregated and they only meet during spawning.

[3] In the European flying squid spawning is most likely to be continuous throughout the year on the continental slope, but there are distinct seasonal peaks in late winter or early spring in the northeastern Atlantic.

The early life cycle is not well known but observations on juveniles over the mid-Atlantic Ridge suggests that they are carried by currents and spread in the upper layers of the water column between 50–150 m), although they may go deeper in the daylight hours.

[3] The European flying squid is predominantly taken as a bycatch of trawl fisheries for other species, but it is also fished by jigging and purse seining.