''Sepia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sepiidae Sepiidae is a family of cephalopods in the order Sepiida, comprising the large-bodied species of cuttlefish, including the type genus, '' Sepia''. It includes 116 recognized species according to WoRMS, a number of which need further verification ...

encompassing some of the best known and most common species. The

cuttlebone Cuttlebone, also known as cuttlefish bone, is a hard, brittle internal structure (an internal Mollusc shell, shell) found in all members of the family (biology), family Sepiidae, commonly known as cuttlefish, within the cephalopods. In othe ...

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

in shape. The name of the genus is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ised form of the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

(''sēpía'') "cuttlefish".

Anatomy

All members of ''Sepia'' possess eight arms and two tentacles. Tentacles are retractable limbs used to target and latch onto prey, whereas arms are used for handling prey and producing patterns of light and dark to distract prey. Once a prey item has been caught, the tentacles detach from it and have no other function. The tentacles reside in sheaths that run below the eyes and behind the head, into the visceral mass, where they are reserved as coiled, spring-loaded appendages, waiting to be ejected towards a food target.

Classification

A 2023 paper extensively revised the composition of genus ''Sepia''; As a consequence, many species have been split out of genus ''Sepia'', assigned to revived genera or elevated subgenera. Currently, the genus has 58 species, according to

WoRMS The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

. A number of these species need further verification, but they are listed below: *'' Sepia acuminata'' E. A. Smith, 1916 *'' Sepia adami'' Roeleveld, 1972 *'' Sepia appelloefi'' Wülker, 1910 *'' Sepia aureomaculata'' Okutani & Horikawa, 1987 *''

Sepia bathyalis ''Sepia bathyalis'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Indian Ocean, specifically northwestern and southwestern Madagascar. It lives at a depth of between 300 and 500 m.Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Family Sepiidae. ...

'' Khromov, Nikitina & Nesis, 1991 *''

Sepia bertheloti ''Sepia bertheloti'', the African cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish from the family Sepiidae which is found in the warmer waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Africa. Description ''Sepia bertheloti'' grows to a mantle length of 175mm i ...

d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

, 1835, African cuttlefish *''

Sepia bidhaia ''Sepia bidhaia'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, specifically the waters off the Great Barrier Reef ( to ). It lives at a depth of between 200 and 304 m.Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Family Sepiida ...

'' A. Reid, 2000 *''

Sepia brevimana Sepia may refer to: Biology * ''Sepia'' (cephalopod), a genus of cuttlefish Color * Sepia (color), a reddish-brown color * Sepia tone, a photography technique Music * ''Sepia'', a 2001 album by Coco Mbassi * ''Sepia'', a 2002 album by Yu Taka ...

'' Steenstrup, 1875 *''

Sepia burnupi ''Sepia burnupi'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Indian Ocean, specifically southeast Africa, from Port Elizabeth to southern Mozambique and the Saya-de-Malha Bank. It lives at a depth of between 40 and 240 m.Reid, A., P. ...

'' Hoyle, 1904 *''

Sepia carinata ''Sepia carinata'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the western Pacific Ocean, specifically southern Japan, Sagami Bay, the South China Sea, and Vietnam. Depth range is lower sublittoral, to 128 m.Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Fami ...

'' Sasaki, 1920 *''

Sepia chirotrema ''Sepia chirotrema'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southern Indo-Pacific, specifically from Investigator Strait, southern Australia () to Dirk Hartog Island, western Australia (). It lives at a depth of between 120 and 210 m.Reid, A., ...

'' S. S. Berry, 1918 *''

Sepia confusa ''Sepia confusa'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Indian Ocean, specifically southeastern Africa from Port Elizabeth to southern Mozambique, Zanzibar and Pemba (5° to 30ºS), and Madagascar. ''S. confusa'' has also been er ...

'' E. A. Smith, 1916 *'' Sepia cottoni''

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, 1979 *'' Sepia dollfusi'' Adam, 1941 *'' Sepia elobyana'' Adam, 1941, Guinean cuttlefish *'' Sepia elongata'' A. d'Orbigny, 1842 *'' Sepia furcata'' Ho & Lu, 2005 *'' Sepia gibba'' Ehrenberg, 1831 *'' Sepia grahami'' A. Reid, 2001 *'' Sepia hierredda'' Rang, 1835, giant African cuttlefish * *'' Sepia hirunda'' Ho & Lu, 2005 *'' Sepia incerta'' E. A. Smith, 1916 *'' Sepia insignis'' E. A. Smith, 1916 *'' Sepia irvingi'' W. T. Meyer, 1909 *'' Sepia ivanovi'' Khromov, 1982 *'' Sepia joubini'' Massy, 1927 *'' Sepia kiensis'' Hoyle, 1885 *'' Sepia koilados'' A. Reid, 2000 *'' Sepia mascarensis'' Filippova & Khromov, 1991 *'' Sepia mira'' (Cotton, 1932) *'' Sepia mirabilis'' Khromov, 1988 *'' Sepia murrayi'' Adam & Rees, 1966, frog cuttlefish *''

Sepia officinalis The common cuttlefish or European common cuttlefish (''Sepia officinalis'') is one of the largest and best-known cuttlefish species. They are a migratory species that spend the summer and spring inshore for spawning and then move to depths of du ...

'' Linnaeus, 1758, common cuttlefish * *'' Sepia plana'' Lu & A. Reid, 1997 *'' Sepia plathyconchalis'' Filippova & Khromov, 1991 *'' Sepia prabahari'' Neethiselvan & Venkataramani, 2002 *'' Sepia pulchra'' Roeleveld & Liltved, 1985 *'' Sepia reesi'' Adam, 1979 *'' Sepia rhoda'' (Iredale, 1954) *'' Sepia savignyi'' Blainville, 1827 *'' Sepia saya'' Khromov, Nikitina & Nesis, 1991 *'' Sepia senta'' Lu & A. Reid, 1997 *'' Sepia sewelli'' Adam & Rees, 1966 *'' Sepia simoniana'' Thiele, 1920 *'' Sepia sokotriensis'' Khromov, 1988 *'' Sepia subplana'' Lu & Boucher-Rodoni, 2001 *'' Sepia subtenuipes'' Okutani & Horikawa, 1987 *'' Sepia sulcata'' Hoyle, 1885, grooved cuttlefish *'' Sepia tala'' Khromov, Nikitina & Nesis, 1991 *'' Sepia tanybracheia'' A. Reid, 2000 *'' Sepia thurstoni'' Adam & Rees, 1966 *'' Sepia tuberculata'' Lamarck, 1798 *'' Sepia vecchioni'' Neethiselvan & Venkataramani, 2010 *'' Sepia vercoi'' Adam, 1979 *'' Sepia vermiculata'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 * *'' Sepia vietnamica'' Khromov, 1987 *'' Sepia vossi'' Khromov, 1996 *'' Sepia zanzibarica''

Pfeffer Pfeffer is a German language, German surname meaning "Black pepper, pepper" and may refer to: * Anna Pfeffer (born 1946), Hungarian Olympic medalist sprint canoer * Anshel Pfeffer, British journalist * Anton Pfeffer (born 1965), Austrian football ...

, 1884 The species marked with an asterisk (*) were examined in the 2023 paper.

Extinct species

A number of extinct species have been described from the

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

of Europe, though many of these are likely synonyms. They include: *'' Sepia bertii'' Foresti, 1890 *'' Sepia complanata'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia craversii'' Gastaldi, 1868 *'' Sepia gastaldii'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia granosa'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia harmati'' Szörenyi, 1933 *'' Sepia hungarica'' Lörenthey, 1898 *'' Sepia isseli'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia michelotti'' Gastaldi, 1868 *'' Sepia rugulosa'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia stricta'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia verrucosa'' Bellardi, 1872 *'' Sepia vindobonensis'' Schloenbach, 1869

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sepia Articles containing video clips Cephalopod genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa described in 1758