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Sepia (cephalopod)

{{Short description|Genus of cephalopods}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range | earliest = Cretaceous | Miocene | Recent | ref =

{{cite journal |last=Whiteaves |first=J.F. |year=1897 |title=On some remains of a Sepia-like cuttle-fish from the Cretaceous rocks of the south Saskatchewan |journal=The Canadian Record of Science |volume=7 |pages=459–462 }}

{{cite journal |first1 = R. |last1 = Hewitt |first2 = H.M. |last2 = Pedley |year = 1978 |title = The preservation of the shells of Sepia in the middle Miocene of Malta |journal = Proceedings of the Geologists' Association |volume = 89 |issue = 3 |pages = 227–237 |doi = 10.1016/S0016-7878(78)80013-3 |bibcode = 1978PrGA...89..227H }}

}}

| image = HPIM1795.JPG

| image_caption = Common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

| taxon = Sepia

| authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| type_species = Sepia rugosa

| type_species_authority = Bowdich, 1822{{Citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=If Linnaeus coined it then it should be attributed to him}}

| subdivision_ranks =

| subdivision =

}}

Sepia is a genus of cuttlefish in the family Sepiidae encompassing some of the best known and most common species. The cuttlebone is ellipsoid in shape. The name of the genus is the Latinised form of the Ancient Greek {{Lang|grc| {{math|σηπία}} }} (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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Classification

A 2023 paper extensively revised the composition of genus Sepia;{{cite journal |last1=Lupše |first1=Nik |last2=Reid |first2=Amanda |last3=Taite |first3=Morag |last4=Kubodera |first4=Tsunemi |last5=Allcock |first5=A. Louise |title=Cuttlefishes (Cephalopoda, Sepiidae): the bare bones—an hypothesis of relationships |journal=Marine Biology |date=16 June 2023 |volume=170 |issue=8 |page=93 |doi=10.1007/s00227-023-04195-3 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023MarBi.170...93L }} 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.{{cite web |title=Sepiidae Leach, 1817 |url=https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=11723 |website=marinespecies.org |publisher=World Register of Marine Species |access-date=30 April 2025}} A number of these species need further verification, but they are listed below:

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

=Extinct species=

{{Multiple image

| image1 = Fossils - Museu Geològic del Seminari de Barcelona 38.JPG

| caption1 = Fossil cuttlebone of the Pliocene species Sepia rugulosa

| image2 = Epiidae - Sepia stricta.JPG

| caption2 = Fossil cuttlebone of Sepia stricta

| align = right

| direction = vertical

}}

A number of extinct species have been described from the Neogene of Europe, though many of these are likely synonyms. They include:{{cite journal |last=Hiden |first=H.R. |year=1995 |title=Sepia vindobonensis (Cephalopoda, Coleoida) aus dem Mittel-Miozän von Retznei (Steiermark, Österreich) |language=de |trans-title="Sepia vindobonensis (Cephalopoda, Coleoida) from the middle Miocene of Retznei (Styria, Austria)" |journal=Mitteilungen der Abteilung für Geologie und Paläontologie am Landesmuseum Joanneum [Communications from the Department of Geology and Palaeontology of the [Archduke] Johann State Museum] |volume=52–53 |pages=111–124 |url=http://www.museum-joanneum.at/upload/file/Geologie/Mitteilungen/52_53%205%20Hiden.pdf |access-date=2012-11-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222041811/http://www.museum-joanneum.at/upload/file/Geologie/Mitteilungen/52_53%205%20Hiden.pdf |archive-date=2012-12-22}}

References

{{Reflist|25em}}

External links

  • {{cite web

|first1 = Katharina M. |last1 = Mangold

|first2 = Richard E. |last2 = Young

|year = 2016 |orig-date = 10 November 2012

|title = Sepia

|website = Tree of Life web project (tolweb.org)

|url = http://tolweb.org/Sepia/20009

|access-date = 28 August 2023

}}

{{CephBase_Genus|Sepia}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q286026}}

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Category:Sepia

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Cephalopod genera

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Taxa described in 1758