Q: Can you tell me what a group of squid is called? A squad? A school? I’ve tried to look it up, but I haven’t seen anything definite that says, “A group of squid is called ... ” I would really like to know.I've heard both shoal and school tossed around. These two terms are often used interchangeably, though they have distinct meanings:
A: As you are no doubt aware, a collective noun is a word that describes a group of things. And collective nouns for animals are an exercise in creativity, from a shrewdness of apes to a pod of baby alligators, a murder of crows to an exaltation of larks and a scold of jays. I believe the most common word to describe a cohesive group of squid is “shoal.”
In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling, and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling.Squid can exhibit both types of behavior, so you might see either a shoal or a school.
The TONMO forums have, of course, discussed this question extensively. I think my favorite suggestion was a scrum of squid.
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