Biodiversity & Conservation

Little cuttlefish - Sepiola atlantica

Sepiola atlantica

Image Steve Trewhella - Sepiola atlantica, the little cuttlefish, swimming. Image width ca XX cm.
Image copyright information

  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
Distribution map

Sepiola atlantica recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Sepiola atlantica?
If so please submit your record.

Sepiola atlantica is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Cephalopoda Cuttlefish, nautilus, octopus & squid
Authority Orbigny, 1840
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Found around much of the English and Scottish coastline and in a few locations in Wales. Also found to the east and south coasts of Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Often found in rockpools, subtidally and offshore. Swims over or burrows in sand and gravel.
Text page icon Description A plump, rounded cuttlefish small in size of up to 6 cm, with rounded fins that do not run along its entire length. The colour varies from black-brown to pale dorsally and pale ventrally. It is rarely striped.
Identifying features
  • Dorsal mantle edge fused to head between eyes.
  • Tentacular clubs with 8 suckers in transverse rows.
  • Colour - very variable, black-brown to pale dorsally, usually pale ventrally.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Emily Wilson 2008. Sepiola atlantica. Little cuttlefish. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 19/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4337>