Loligo is a genus of squid

Squid

Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...

s and one of the most representative and widely distributed groups of myopsid squid

Myopsina

Myopsina is a suborder of squid containing two families. Some systematists raise it to the level of an order, in which case it is known as Myopsida.-External links:*...

s.

The genus was first described by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1798. However, the name had been used earlier than Lamarck (Schneider, 1784; Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...

, 1758) and might even have been used by Pliny

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

. In the early nineteenth century, this generic name was often used as a grouping for all true squids.

All three species of Loligo are extensively exploited by commercial fisheries.