Sepia (Sepia) officinalis, Photo: Michael Lahanas
Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Cephalopoda
Subclassis: Coleoidea
Cohors: Neocoleoidea
Superordo: Decapodiformes
Ordo: Sepiida
Familia: Sepiidae
Genus: Sepia
Subgenus: S. (Sepia)
Species: S. (S.) officinalis
The Common Cuttlefish or European Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is one of the largest and best known cuttlefish species. It grows to 49 cm in mantle length (ML) and 4 kg in weight.[1] Animals from subtropical seas are smaller and rarely exceed 30 cm in ML.[2]
The Common Cuttlefish is native to at least the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, and Baltic Sea, although subspecies have been proposed as far south as South Africa. It lives on sand and mud seabeds to a depth of around 200 m. As in most cuttlefish species, spawning occurs in shallow waters.[3]
Predators and prey
Known predators of S. officinalis include large fish[4] (such as monkfish and swordfish, Xiphias gladius)[5][6] and whales.[4]
In the wild, S. officinalis is known to prey upon a wide variety of animals. These include: bony fishes, copepods, crustaceans (including Astacus leptodactylus, Carcinus sp., Crangon sp., Cymodocea sp., Daphnia sp., Gammarus sp., Mugil sp., Mysis sp., Penaeus sp., Praunus sp., Sphaeroma sp., Squilla sp.), decapod cephalopods, gastropods, lamellibranches, nemerteans, octopods, ostracods, polychaetes, and pteropods.[7]
A 2008 study on S. officinalis[8] revealed that cuttlefish embryos, if visually exposed to a certain species of prey (e.g. crabs), will hunt primarily for that prey in later life. S. officinalis usually prefer shrimp to crabs, but when the embryos were exposed to crabs and the embryos had hatched, the young cuttlefish switched preferences and proceeded to hunt the crabs more often than the shrimp.[9]
Taxonomy
It is unknown where the type specimen of S. officinalis was collected, as the location is given simply as "Oceano". It is deposited in the Linnean Society of London.[10]
Sepia officinalis jurujubai Oliveira, 1940, originally described as a subspecies of the Common Cuttlefish, is a junior synonym of Sepioteuthis sepioidea.[11]
See also
* Cephalopod size
References
As seen when dead, the long prehensile tentacles being withdrawn from the pouches at the side of the head, in which they are carried during life when not actually in use. a, neck; b, lateral fin of the mantle; c, the eight shorter arms; d, the two long prehensile tentacles; e, the eyes
1. ^ Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Family Sepiidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 1. Rome, FAO. pp. 57–152.
2. ^ Roper C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney & C.E. Nauen 1984. Cephalopods of the world. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy. Vol. 3, p. 277.
3. ^ Norman, M.D. 2000. Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks.
4. ^ a b Le-Mao, P. 1985. Place de la seiche Sepia officinalis (mollusque, Cephalopoda) dans les chaines alimentaires du golfe Normano-Breton. Cah. Biol. Mar. 26(3): 331-340.
5. ^ Hernández-Garcia, V. 1995. The diet of the swordfish Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758, in the central east Atlantic, with emphasis on the role of cephalopods. Fishery Bulletin 93: 403-411.
6. ^ Royer, J., M.B. Santos, S.K. Cho, G. Stowasser, G.J. Pierce, H.I. Daly & J.-P. Robin. 1998. Cephalopod consumption by fish in English Channel and Scottish waters. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea: The impact of Cephalopods in the Food Chain and Their Interaction with the Environment, CM/M: 23.
7. ^ Boletzky S.v. & R.T. Hanlon. 1983. A Review of the Laboratory Maintenance, Rearing and Culture of Cephalopod Molluscs. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria: Proceedings of the Workshop on the Biology and Resource Potential of Cephalopods, Melbourne, Australia, 9–13 March 1981, Roper, Clyde F.E., C.C. Lu &F.G. Hochberg, ed. 44: 147-187.
8. ^ Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq, Clemence Lesimple, and Ludovic Dickel. 2008. Embryonic visual learning in the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis. Animal Behaviour 76: 131–134
9. ^ Walker, M. 2008. Cuttlefish spot target prey early. BBC News, June 5, 2008.
10. ^ Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda
11. ^ Adam, W. & W.J. Rees. 1966. A Review of the Cephalopod Family Sepiidae. John Murray Expedition 1933-34, Scientific Reports 11(1): 1-165, 46 plates.
* Taxa Associated with the Family Sepiidae Keferstein, 1866
* Fluckiger, M., G.D. Jackson, P. Nichols, P. Virtue, A. Daw & S. Wotherspoon. 2008. An experimental study of the effect of diet on the fatty acid profiles of the European Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). Marine Biology (published online first). doi:10.1007/s00227-008-0932-0
