Sepia officinalis Linnaeus, 1758
(Common Cuttlefish)

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesSepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)
GenusSepia (cuttlefishes)
FamilySEPIIDAE (cuttlefish)
OrderSEPIIDA (an order of molluscs)
SuperorderDECAPODIFORMES (a superorder of molluscs)
SubclassCOLEOIDEA (a subclass of molluscs)
ClassCEPHALOPODA (octopuses, cuttlefishes and squids)
PhylumMOLLUSCA (slugs, snails, bivalves, octopus, sea slugs)
SuperphylumLOPHOTROCHOZOA (molluscs and relatives)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
Records of Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish) :
1: Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)
11 Dec 2015 OSGR: SZ09 50° 40’ N, 1° 50’ W Vice County: South Hants (VC 11) England
dead, washed up shells
Image 1: Image 2: Image 3: Image 4:
2: Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)
8 Jun 2009 OSGR: SX84 50° 20’ N, 3° 40’ W Vice County: South Devon (VC 3) England
5 "bones" washed up on beach
Image 1: Image 2: Image 3: Image 4: Small Image 5: Small Image 6:
3: Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)
17 Jun 2008 OSGR: TR02 51° 0’ N, 0° 60’ E Vice County: East Kent (VC 15) England
"bone" washed up on beach
Image 1: Image 2: Image 3: Image 4: Image 5: Image 6: Image 7: Image 8: Image 9: Image 10: Image 11: Image 12: Image 13: Image 14: Image 15: Image 16:

Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish) may be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 0 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for Sepia officinalis (Common Cuttlefish)

Common Cuttlefish is common and breeds close to our shores. The dead shells "Cuttlefish Bones" are large (up to 30cm or more), pure white and have a rounded apex. They are often collected and offered to cage birds to sharpen their beaks.

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