''Sepia bandensis'', commonly known as the stumpy-spined cuttlefish or dwarf cuttlefish, is a species of

cuttlefish Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of ...

. ''

Sepia baxteri ''Sepia baxteri'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, specifically the waters around Lord Howe Island. It is known only from the type cuttlebones. Depth range is unknown.Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. ...

'' and ''

Sepia bartletti ''Sepia bartletti'' is a species of cuttlefish native to the western Pacific Ocean. It is known only from the type locality. Depth range is unknown.Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Family Sepiidae. ''In:'' P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. '' ...

'' are possible synonyms. It reaches 7 centimeters in mantle length; males weigh about 40 grams, females 45 grams. The body is coloured light brown, or greenish yellow, with white spots on the head and short white bars on the dorsal mantle. The fins, of pale colour, have rows of small fluorescent blue spots. ''Sepia bandensis'' lives in shallow coastal waters of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, Jawa,

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and lesser islands), and probably also on the northern coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

of the species was caught in

Banda Neira Banda Neira (also known as Pulau Neira) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative Banda Islands District (''Kecamatan Kepulauan Banda'') within the Central Maluku Regency in the province of ...

, Indonesia. It is common in

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

and sandy coast habitats, usually in association with

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

s and

sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

s. It feeds on crustaceans at night. ''Sepia bandensis'' "walks", rather than swims, using its arms and the flaps of the mantle.

References

* P. Jereb, C. F. E. Roper (editors) (2005). '' tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0150e/a0150e07.pdf Cephalopods of the world. FAO species catalogue for fishery purposes'. No. 4. Vol. 1.

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

. . page 72. * R. Ross, Advanced Aquarist, September 200
Keeping and breeding the dwarf cuttlefish Sepia bandensis
* R. Ross, Tropical Fish Hobbyist 2009
Sepia bandensis: husbandry and breeding
* R. Ross, Drum and Croaker 2010
Display, Husbandry and Bredding of the Dwarf Cuttle, Sepia bandensis, at the California Academy of Sciences
* "Animal Diversity Web.
Sepia: CLASSIFICATION
University of Michigan, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2016. Cuttlefish Molluscs described in 1939 {{cuttlefish-stub