Japanese flying squid

Specimen placed next to a ruler for scale.

The Japanese flying squid, Japanese common squid or Pacific flying squid, scientific name Todarodes pacificus, is a squid of the family Ommastrephidae. This animal lives in the northern Pacific Ocean, in the area surrounding Japan, along the entire coast of China up to Russia, then spreading across the Bering Strait east towards the southern coast of Alaska and Canada. They tend to cluster around the central region of Vietnam.

"Flying"

Flying squid have been spotted to covering distances as long as 30m above the surface of the water, presumably to avoid predators or save energy as they migrate across vast expanses of ocean, uniquely utilizing jet-propelled aerial locomotion. However, the behavior is not unique to the species, and is quite common in the Oegopsida order.