The sausage-shaped eggs of squid cause some confusion amongst rockpoolers and beachcombers when washed ashore. They are a fairly regular sight in midsummer around St. Abbs Head attached to kelp (as here), stones, ropes and even lobster creels. However, in recent years, there has been heavy, unregulated fishing for squid in the area which has in 2012 had to cease because few squid were present. It will be interesting to see whether they come back and these egg masses still appear quite as frequently. I am not sure of the type of squid that lays them but believe it to be Loligo forbesi which is the main type of squid caught commercially here.

The sausage-shaped eggs of squid cause some confusion amongst rockpoolers and beachcombers when washed ashore. They are a fairly regular sight in midsummer around St. Abbs Head attached to kelp (as here), stones, ropes and even lobster creels. However, in recent years, there has been heavy, unregulated fishing for squid in the area which has in 2012 had to cease because few squid were present. It will be interesting to see whether they come back and these egg masses still appear quite as frequently. I am not sure of the type of squid that lays them but believe it to be Loligo forbesi which is the main type of squid caught commercially here.