Sibu Tales : Squids and Cuttlefish

We always have problems identifying dried squids and dried cuttlefish because we come from a multi-lingual society.

Cuttlefish is called Meh Ngii 墨鱼(which gives out black ink). Dried squid  魷魚




is called Yiu Ngii. Cuttlefish is rounder, soft and jelly like when re-hydrated.

Dried Cuttlefish - See the cuttlebone in the middle

The main distinguishing feature of cuttlefish is that they have a large calcareous internal shell called a cuttlebone, whereas true squids have a light-weight internal shell called a gladius or pen, which is made primarily of chitin. Cuttlefish also have a W-shaped pupil, while squids have pupils which are round or nearly so.