Illex illecebrosus, commonly known as the northern shortfin squid, is a species of neritic squids in the family Ommastrephidae. Squids of the genus Illex account for 65% of the world's cephalopod captures. Illex is formed by four taxa distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean (I. argentinus, I. coindetii, I. illecebrosus and I. oxygonius), whose identification and phylogenetic relationships based on morphological characters remain controversial. They are found in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, from off the coast of eastern North America to Greenland, Iceland, and west of Ireland and the United Kingdom. They are a highly migratory and short-lived species, with lifespans of less than a year. They are commercially important and are fished extensively (primarily by the United States and Canada), mostly for the Canadian and Japanese markets. Northern shortfin squid is a migratory species of squid with a distribution ranging from Florida Straits to Newfoundland in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. The species is native to Canada, Greenland, Iceland and United States. The species has an average lifespan between 1–1.5 years in which most live less than a year. The location of the fishery of the squid is mainly in Mid-Atlantic Bight from between summer and fall.