Kingdom Animalia Family Sepiidae Subgenus Sepia Phylum Mollusca Rank Species | Order Sepiida Genus Sepia Scientific name Sepia mestus Higher classification Sepia | |
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Similar Cuttlefish, Cephalopod, Sepia, Molluscs | ||
Reaper cuttlefish sepia mestus eggs and hatchlings
Sepia mestus, also known as the Reaper cuttlefish or simply Red cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, specifically Escape Reef off Queensland (15°47′S 145°47′E) to Murrays Beach off Jervis Bay (35°08′S 150°46′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.
S. mestus exhibits sexual dimorphism. Females grow to a mantle length (ML) of 124 mm, while males do not exceed 77 mm ML.
The type specimen was collected off the Australian coast and is deposited at The Natural History Museum in London.
References
Sepia mestus Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA