Common Cuttlefish

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Common Cuttlefish

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Sepiida
Family: Sepiidae
Genus: Sepia
Subgenus: Sepia
Species: S. officinalis
Binomial name
Sepia officinalis
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Sepia rugosa
    Bowdich, 1822
  • Sepia vicellius
    Gray, 1849
  • Sepia zebrina
    Risso, 1854
  • Sepia filliouxi
    Lafont, 1869
  • ?Sepia fischeri
    Lafont, 1871
  • Sepia officinalis mediterranea
    Ninni, 1884
  • ?Sepia veranyi
    P. Fischer in Lagatu, 1888

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]

S. officinalis from Turkish waters
S. officinalis from Turkish waters

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]

Contents

[edit] Predators and prey

Captive Sepia officinalis
Captive Sepia officinalis

Known predators of S. officinalis include large fish[4] (such as monkfish),[5] whales,[4] and swordfish (Xiphias gladius).[6]

In the wild, S. officinalis is known to prey upon a wide variety of animals. These include: algae, 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 study on S. officinalis by the University of Caen Lower Normandy revealed that cuttlefish embryos, if exposed to a certain species of prey (e.g. crabs), will hunt primarily for that prey in later life. The study exposed the embryos to crabs in sea water; later on, when the embryos had hatched, the cuttlefish were placed in a tank with shrimp and crabs, and they proceeded to hunt the latter species more often than the shrimp.[8]

[edit] 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.[9]

Sepia officinalis jurujubai Oliveira, 1940, originally described as a subspecies of the Common Cuttlefish, is a junior synonym of Sepioteuthis sepioidea.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  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. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  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. ^ BBC News. Cuttlefish spot target prey early. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  9. ^ Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda
  10. ^ 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.

[edit] External links

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