Taiwanese think it’s the same animal? 
There are many ‘squid like animals’ that are eaten in Taiwan and no they don’t think they are the same animal. Wu zei are cuttlefish and Hua zhi are squid. There is also You Yu.
Zhang Yu is octopus. Anyway while I’m not very clear myself on the breakdown I know many people can identify them , at least the dead ones!
the soup made with either is very very tasty and one of the dishes i really miss over here in the bay area!
Why some like to eat’em i got no idea-. They don’t have any sort of real flavor until they start turning bad and the texture is something between gluten and rubber
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I did a bit of AI research and I think the confusion is because of differences in taxonomy.
In Mandarin there is no distinction between the order ‘Teuthida’ (all squid) and the order ‘Sepida’ (all cuttlefish). The translation is the same for both. In our taxonomy they are separate.
So the overarching Chinese term ‘You2 Yu2’ 魷魚 covers all types of squid and cuttlefish and makes sense in Mandarin. But in English, cuttlefish are a different order of animal and You2 Yu2 makes no sense.
To distinguish between the two, Hua1 Zhi2 花枝 can be used for squid, and Wu1 Zei2 烏賊 for cuttlefish (avoiding the term You2 Yu2 completely).
Or if you don’t care, just say You2 Yu2 and you will always be right in Chinese.
Here is the taxonomy:
-
Huazhi (all Squid)
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Mollusca
• Class: Cephalopoda
• Order: Teuthida (same as Sepida in Mandarin)
• Family: …
• Genus: …
• Species: … -
Wuzei (all Cuttlefish)
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Mollusca
• Class: Cephalopoda
• Order: Sepiida (same as Teuthida in Mandarin)
• Family: …
• Genus: …
• Species: … -
Youyu (Overarching term for all squid and cuttlefish in Mandarin)
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Mollusca
• Class: Cephalopoda
• Order: Teuthida / Sepida
• Family: …
• Genus: …
• Species: …
Makes sense to me.
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OK, now explain to me why jellyfish are water mothers. At least river fox (beaver) and sea pig (dolphin) make some sort of sense.
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Where does 小卷 or 小管 belong to? I think, it’s squid, right?
From left to right: sió-kńg, thàu-thiu, tiong-kńg (小管, 透抽, 中管, different growth stages of most species in the Myopsida), nńg-si (軟絲, Bigfin reef squid), jiû-hî (魷魚, squid), hue-ki (花枝, cuttlefish).
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Common names in many languages and cultures are silly. When in doubt, fall back on the Latin. I find pretty much everyone knows the difference between cuttlefish and squid in food. But there is probably lots of trickery. Much like the popular shredded turkey rice is mostly chicken now. Many a goose shop reverted to duck. Liars will keep the name even if they change the ingredients. I posted a Pic of Thai holy basil sauce that contains no holy basil.
Always fall back on labels and Latin haha
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Problem with Latin is that names are much harder to remember and spell. OK, Sepia for Cuttlefish is easy, Calamus for Squid too. But it gets tricky with names like Sepioteuthis sepioidea, a beautiful squid, btw. 
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Hard at a restaraunt, totally. But if one wants to be sure, that’s the global standard. Even massive seed suppliers, animal breeders etc sometimes don’t know the species they are raising. Problematic.
I find it funny how well taiwanese know species of animals based on taste and texture 
Half sarcasm haha
Why would turkey rice be a traditional dish in Latin or the Chinese language? Turkeys were unknown to either until the discovery of North America.
My gf 罵s me when I don’t know the difference of squid and cuttlefish. But she can’t tell the difference of a mouse and rat, even though the difference is fairly obvious imo!
People keep telling me they are different, but since I’be tasted neither, it’s so hard to remember without being able to rely on taste and texture to help me distinguish them.
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You eat rats? 
I don’t, hence my inability to tell mice and rats part.
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It is a very famous dish in Taiwan. Chaiyi. Claims the throne, but it’s not just there. Think deeper. My point is that this is the “famous dish”. Specifically chaiyi (har har, taiwanese food is bad…this is my hill to die on, not the cuisine itself). Although you can buy “turkey” rice everywhere. I am pointing out the cheating indusrry. Business. via company styled profits, not based on food or cuisine. Same with convenience stores and so many others. Its a culture thing. Or, thang…to keep it not too serious… turkey rice is mostly chicken now. Loads of lies are the issue, with loads of middle men and cheating. As per my above post. If there are any uncertainties, ask a direct question and I will try my best to give a long, direct response. But let’s just say mcdknalds is not a good beef burger. They are a "big mac”. Anyone in the food industry will tell you the key difference in the wording and marketing
This said, if people don’t understand this, or the goose thing i also mentioned above, understand said people are completely ignorant on how this industry works in Taiwan. Or just want to eat shit and be blind to reality, this exists outside taiwan a lot as well. Loads of threads claiming bad food but being ignorant about the reasons why. Some people like to just shit on others without spending any effort understatning the situatuon.
Though the styles of industry are similar in most sectors, outside of tech. Even most countries (despite the consumer side of the market being largely ignorant as all fuck). Be it food, transport, tech, minerals, chemicals, textiles, construction and so on. It is bad here, but it isn’t as dire as some people make it out to be. It is a very broad and incorporated thing, so we would need to have more specific questions in order to get specific answers.
Long form, better. Ignorant people (not saying you) that are very opinionated and cannot answer on scientific fact should be questioned more.
Let’s go!
Or,
Let’s go?
It’s good to go deep, but let’s not name names. For beyond obvious reasons some foreigners don’t yet comprehend….