flying squid

plural flying squids

1. Any of various species of the family Ommastrephidae with the ability to glide in air above the water.

   For flying squid, designated observers will measure the mantle lengths of 30 flying squid randomly sampled from a single observed section each day.

   1994, Richard L. Wallace, editor, The Marine Mammal Commission Compendium of Selected Treaties... on Marine Resources, Wildlife, and the Environment, Volume III, page 3184

   2 more examples

   The Flying Fish or Cuttle Fish (Loligo Sp.)—Many different kinds of Loligo are called by sailors Flying Squid, from a habit they have of leaping from the water, and proceeding through the air to some distance in a horizontal direction, like flying fish.

   1840, The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Volume 22, page 194

   Among the five different gillnet mesh sizes used by the Korean gillnet fishery, the 86 and 105 mm mesh were most commonly used for targeting on neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartrami (Lesueur), in the North Pacific.

   1993, Bulletin - International North Pacific Fisheries Commission, Volume 53, Issues 1-3, International North Pacific Fisheries Commission, page 45