Sepia is agenus ofcuttlefish in thefamilySepiidae encompassing some of the best known and most common species. Thecuttlebone isellipsoid in shape. The name of the genus is theLatinised form of theAncient Greekσηπία (sēpía) "cuttlefish".
| Sepia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Common cuttlefish,Sepia officinalis | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Sepiida |
| Family: | Sepiidae |
| Genus: | Sepia Linnaeus,1758 |
| Type species | |
| Sepia rugosa Bowdich, 1822[citation needed] | |
Anatomy
editAll members ofSepia possesseight 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.[citation needed]
Classification
editA 2023 paper extensively revised the composition of genusSepia;[3] As a consequence, many species have been split out of genusSepia, assigned to revived genera or elevated subgenera. Currently, the genus has 58 species, according toWoRMS.[4] A number of these species need further verification, but they are listed below:
- Sepia acuminataE. A. Smith, 1916
- Sepia adami Roeleveld, 1972
- Sepia appelloefi Wülker, 1910
- Sepia aureomaculata Okutani & Horikawa, 1987
- Sepia bathyalis Khromov, Nikitina & Nesis, 1991
- Sepia berthelotid'Orbigny, 1835, African cuttlefish
- Sepia bidhaia A. Reid, 2000
- Sepia brevimanaSteenstrup, 1875
- Sepia burnupi Hoyle, 1904
- Sepia carinata Sasaki, 1920
- Sepia chirotrema S. S. Berry, 1918
- Sepia confusa E. A. Smith, 1916
- Sepia cottoniAdam, 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 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 savignyiBlainville, 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 zanzibaricaPfeffer, 1884
The species marked with an asterisk (*) were examined in the 2023 paper.
Extinct species
edit
A number of extinct species have been described from theNeogene of Europe, though many of these are likely synonyms. They include:[5]
- Sepia bertiiForesti, 1890
- Sepia complanataBellardi, 1872
- Sepia craversiiGastaldi, 1868
- Sepia gastaldiiBellardi, 1872
- Sepia granosaBellardi, 1872
- Sepia harmatiSzörenyi, 1933
- Sepia hungaricaLörenthey, 1898
- Sepia isseliBellardi, 1872
- Sepia michelottiGastaldi, 1868
- Sepia rugulosaBellardi, 1872
- Sepia strictaBellardi, 1872
- Sepia verrucosaBellardi, 1872
- Sepia vindobonensisSchloenbach, 1869
References
edit- ^Whiteaves, J.F. (1897). "On some remains of aSepia-like cuttle-fish from the Cretaceous rocks of the south Saskatchewan".The Canadian Record of Science.7:459–462.
- ^Hewitt, R.; Pedley, H.M. (1978). "The preservation of the shells ofSepia in the middle Miocene of Malta".Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.89 (3):227–237.Bibcode:1978PrGA...89..227H.doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(78)80013-3.
- ^Lupše, Nik; Reid, Amanda; Taite, Morag; Kubodera, Tsunemi; Allcock, A. Louise (16 June 2023)."Cuttlefishes (Cephalopoda, Sepiidae): the bare bones—an hypothesis of relationships".Marine Biology.170 (8): 93.Bibcode:2023MarBi.170...93L.doi:10.1007/s00227-023-04195-3.
- ^"Sepiidae Leach, 1817".marinespecies.org. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved30 April 2025.
- ^Hiden, H.R. (1995)."Sepia vindobonensis (Cephalopoda, Coleoida) aus dem Mittel-Miozän von Retznei (Steiermark, Österreich)" ["Sepia vindobonensis (Cephalopoda, Coleoida) from the middle Miocene of Retznei (Styria, Austria)"](PDF).Mitteilungen der Abteilung für Geologie und Paläontologie am Landesmuseum Joanneum [Communications from the Department of Geology and Palaeontology of the [Archduke] Johann State Museum] (in German).52–53:111–124. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 22 December 2012. Retrieved15 November 2012.
External links
edit- Mangold, Katharina M.; Young, Richard E. (2016) [10 November 2012]."Sepia".Tree of Life web project (tolweb.org). Retrieved28 August 2023.