Squid is eaten in many cuisines; in English, the culinary name calamari is often used for squid dishes. There are many ways to prepare and cook squid. Fried squid is common in the Mediterranean. In New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, and South Africa, it is sold in fish and chip shops, and steakhouses. In Britain, it can be found in Mediterranean 'calamari' or Asian 'salt and pepper fried squid' forms in various establishments, often served as a bar snack, street food, or starter.
Whole squid sold as food in Lipari, Sicily, Italy
Drying squid in Ulleungdo, South Korea
Fried calamares from Spain
Karaage of squid legs from Japan
A squid is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting these criteria. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin.
Squid
Fossil Rhomboteuthis from the Lower Callovian (c. 164 Mya, middle Jurassic) of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, France
Fossil Plesioteuthis from the Tithonian (c. 150 Mya, upper Jurassic), Solnhofen, Germany
Basic squid features (ventral aspect)