Loligo reynaudii, the Cape Hope squid, was previously treated as a subspecies of L. vulgaris.

Like almost all squid, this species has ten limbs surrounding the mouth and beak: eight are relatively short arms, and two, which form the tentacles, are long, as they are used to catch prey.

The colour of the European squid is greyish-transparent or reddish, depending on the expansion of chromatophores in the dermis.

[4] The European squid is a neritic, semidemersal species, which undertakes distinct horizontal and vertical migrations, depending on the environment.

[5] L. vulgaris is found throughout the Mediterranean and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the North Sea to the Gulf of Guinea.

In British waters, it is mainly found in the Irish Sea, along the south coast of England, and off northern Scotland.

The population in the northeastern Atlantic spends the winter in deeper waters off Portugal, then moves towards the coast of France in spring, before migrating farther north into the North Sea during May and June where they spawn in depths ranging from 20 to 80 m. A southward migration takes place in autumn.

The population found off Morocco and Western Sahara similarly spends the winter in deeper offshore waters and moves inshore to spawn in spring and autumn.