Sepia mestus

Sepia mestus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Sepiida
Family: Sepiidae
Genus: Sepia
Subgenus: Sepia
Species: S. mestus
Binomial name
Sepia mestus
Gray, 1849
Synonyms
  • Ascarosepion verreauxi Rochebrune, 1884
  • Solitosepia liliana Iredale, 1926

Sepia mestus, also known as the Reaper Cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, specifically Escape Reef off Queensland (15°47′S 145°47′E / 15.783°S 145.783°E) to Murrays Beach off Jervis Bay (35°08′S 150°46′E / 35.133°S 150.767°E). Reports of this species from China and Vietnam are now known to be misidentifications. S. mestus lives at a depth of between 0 and 22 m.[1]

S. mestus exhibits sexual dimorphism. Females grow to a mantle length (ML) of 124 mm, while males do not exceed 77 mm ML.[1]

The type specimen was collected off the Australian coast and is deposited at The Natural History Museum in London.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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. ↑ Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda

External links