The aim of this guide is to help commercial fishers, scientific observers and recreational fishermen to identify the most common cephalopods (cuttlefish, squid and octopus) caught in Australian fisheries. Logbooks kept by commercial and recreational fishers provide essential information for fisheries research and management; however, for the records to be useful the catch must be correctly identified, especially in any developing fishery.

Cephalopods, particularly squid, occur in commercial quantities throughout the Australian Fishing Zone but remain largely under utilized. Squid are highly productive species, and generally live for less than a year. They are caught throughout the year, usually with high catches in spring and summer. High catch rates have been recorded in targeted cephalopod trawl fisheries off northern Australia.

Many of the species treated here have not been described and illustrated in the literature, and until now there has been no shipboard guide to the local Australian cephalopods of commercial importance. However, some of the species are included in other publications, some of which are in the bibliography.

As Australia's cephalopod fisheries develop to the stage where management plans are required, the composition, size and sustainable harvest levels of the stocks must be assessed. Commonwealth-managed fisheries are evaluated on the basis of this information. At present, recorded landings represent only a fraction of the cephalopod catch, as cephalopods taken as bycatch are often discarded at sea or used as bait in other fisheries.