Marine Species Identification Portal : Family Sepiidae

Keferstein, 1866

The family of the true Cuttle-fishes (Sepiidae) is the second largest of the class Cephalopoda. It contains two genera and over 100 species, of which only four live in European waters. Sepia officinalis is the type of its genus. As such, it has all the main characteristics of the cuttle-fishes. The eyes are of myopside type. The arms are short and the rather long tentacles are retractable: they can be withdrawn into the head cavities. The 4th pair of arms is longer than the others and the left one is hectocotylized. The mantle is oval, its width is about half of its length and it is not fused with the head, which is much narrower. The body is flattened dorso-ventrally, the fins run like two narrow ribbons along the lateral side of the mantle. The eggs of Sepia look like blue grapes. The internal shell, made of calcareous plate, is present and is situated under the skin of the dorsum.

Source: Poppe and Goto, 1993.

The following subtaxa of this family occur in the region:

Genus Sepia
Sepia elegans
Sepia officinalis
Genus Sepiella
Sepiella japonica

Family Sepiidae