Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Antoine Risso’s Mollusques Céphalopodes vivants observés dans le parage méditerranéen du Comté de Nice, published in 1854. This rare, illustrated text documented local cephalopod species, including the European flying squid, in Mediterranean waters. The work features 33 hand-colored plates by artist Philippe Geny.

The European flying squid (Todarodes sagittatus), historically cataloged in early natural history texts as Sagittatus maximus, is a large, highly adapted cephalopod native to the deep continental slopes of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Reaching mantle lengths of up to 75 centimeters, this pelagic predator features a highly muscular, streamlined body and powerful siphons that allow it to forcefully expel water and launch itself entirely out of the ocean to escape predators. This meticulously detailed illustration captures the animal's complex biological anatomy, highlighting its rows of suckered tentacles, large predatory eyes, and the specialized stabilizing fins that facilitate its remarkable gliding behavior.