Journalists can't seem to write an article about Humboldt squid without mentioning their "Mexican name" diablo rojo. But in all my squid trips to the Gulf of California, I've never yet heard a Mexican fisherman use that term. At the squid festival, la cuarta gran feria del calamar gigante, in Guaymas, Sonora, there was no mention, ever, of el diablo rojo. The Humboldt is calamar gigante, and that's that.

But diablo rojo has become so prevalent in news coverage of this species that I wonder if the media will end up creating their own reality? If enough Americans, Mexicans, and others keep reading that Humboldts are commonly called diablos rojos, will it become true?

That would kind of annoy me.