''Ascarosepion pfefferi'', also known as the flamboyant cuttlefish, is a species of

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

occurring in tropical

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

waters off northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, as well as numerous islands of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Taxonomy

The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

, a female, was collected off Challenger Station 188 in the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

() at a depth of 28

fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...

s () on October 9 1874, as part of the ''Challenger'' expedition. It is deposited at

The Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The flamboyant cuttlefish was moved into

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Ascarosepion'' in 2023; within this genus it is grouped with 13 other species, such as the broadclub cuttlefish, the reaper cuttlefish, and the

giant cuttlefish The giant cuttlefish (''Ascarosepion apama''), also known as the Australian giant cuttlefish, is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to in mantle (mollusc), mantle length and up to in total length (total length meaning the whole ...

. This reclassification renders the genus ''

Metasepia ''Ascarosepion'' is a genus of cuttlefish inhabiting the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean and East Pacific (comprising part of the Indo-Pacific region). The genus varies wildly in size, from the two species of small, colorful cuttlefish for ...

'' obsolete.

Description

''A. pfefferi'' is a robust-looking species, having a very broad,

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

mantle. Arms are broad and blade-like and have four rows of suckers. The modified arm used by males for

fertilisation Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a zygote and initiate its development into a new individual organism or of ...

, called the

hectocotylus A hectocotylus (: hectocotyli) is one of the arms of male cephalopods that is specialized to store and transfer spermatophores to the female. Structurally, hectocotyli are muscular hydrostats. Depending on the species, the male may use it merel ...

, is borne on the left ventral arm. The oral surface of the modified region of the hectocotylus is wide, swollen, and fleshy. It bears transversely grooved ridges and a deep furrow running along the middle. The sucker-bearing surface of the

tentacular club All cephalopods possess flexible limbs extending from their heads and surrounding their cephalopod beak, beaks. These appendages, which function as muscular hydrostats, have been variously termed arms, legs or tentacles. Description In ...

s is flattened, with 5 or 6 suckers arranged in transverse rows. These suckers differ greatly in size, with the largest located near the centre of the club. Three to four median suckers are especially large, occupying most of middle portion of the club. The swimming keel of the club extends considerably near to the carpus. The dorsal and ventral protective membranes are not joined at the base of the club, but fused to the tentacular stalk. Dorsal and ventral membranes differ in length and extend near to the carpus along the stalk. The dorsal membrane forms a shallow cleft at the junction with the stalk. The

cuttlebone Cuttlebone, also known as cuttlefish bone, is a hard, brittle internal structure (an internal Mollusc shell, shell) found in all members of the family (biology), family Sepiidae, commonly known as cuttlefish, within the cephalopods. In othe ...

of this species is small, two-thirds to three-quarters the length of the mantle, and positioned in its anterior. Characteristic of the former genus ''

'', the cuttlebone is

rhomboid Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are non-right angled. The terms "rhomboid" and "parallelogram" are often erroneously conflated with each oth ...

al in outline. Both the anterior and posterior of the cuttlebone taper gradually to an acute point. The dorsal surface of the cuttlebone is yellowish and evenly convex. The texture throughout is smooth, lacking bumps or pustules. The dorsal median rib is absent. A thin film of

chitin Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...

covers the entire dorsal surface. The cuttlebone lacks a pronounced spine; if present, it is small and chitinous. The striated zone of the cuttlebone is concave, with the last loculus being strongly convex and thick in the front third. The sulcus is deep and wide and extends along the striated zone only. Striae (furrows) on the anterior surface form an inverted V-shape. The limbs of the inner cone are very short, narrow, and uniform in width, with the U-shape thickened slightly towards the back. The cuttlebone of ''A. pfefferi'' does not possess an outer cone, unlike that of most other cuttlefish species. As a result this particular genus of cuttlefish, both ''A. pfefferi'' and

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

''A. tullbergi'', is the only one known to walk upon the sea floor. Due to the small size of its

, it can float only for a short time. Most sources agree that ''A. pfefferi'' grows to in

mantle length Cephalopods, which include squids and octopuses, vary enormously in size. The smallest are only about long and weigh less than at maturity, while the giant squid can exceed in length and the colossal squid weighs close to half a tonne (), makin ...

, although others give a maximum mantle length of . The dorsal surface of the mantle bears three pairs of large, flat, flap-like

papillae Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * De ...

. Papillae are also present over the eyes.

Distribution

The natural range of ''A. pfefferi'' extends from

Mandurah Mandurah ( ) is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

(), northeastward to

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

in southern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(), and across the

to the southern coast of New Guinea.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. The species has also been recorded from

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

in Indonesia, and even as far west as the

n islands of

Mabul Mabul () is a small island near the southeastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since the 1970s. After the 1990s, Mabul gained popularity with scuba divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island. The island ...

and

Sipadan Sipadan () is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands ...

.Norman, M.D. 2000. ''Cephalopods: A World Guide''. ConchBooks. They are also common in the

and are frequently sighted in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

Habitat and biology

''A. pfefferi'' has been recorded from sand and mud

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

in shallow waters at depths of . The species is active during the day and has been observed hunting

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s. It employs complex and varied

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

to stalk its prey. The normal base color of this species is dark brown. Individuals that are disturbed or attacked quickly change colour to a pattern of black, dark brown, white, with yellow patches around the mantle, arms, and eyes. The arm tips often display bright red coloration to ward off would-be predators. Animals displaying this colour pattern have been observed using their lower arms to walk or "amble" along the sea floor while rhythmically waving the wide protective membranes on their arms. This behavior advertises a poisonous nature: the flesh of this cuttlefish contains a unique toxin.

Reproduction

Copulation Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the erect male penis inside the female vagina and followed by thrusting motions for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both.Sexual inte ...

occurs face-to-face, with the male inserting a

packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...

sperm Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm ...

into a pouch on the underside of the female's mantle. The female then fertilises her eggs with the sperm. The eggs are laid singly and placed by the female in crevices or ledges in

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, or

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

. In one instance, around a dozen eggs were found under an overturned

coconut husk The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

half. They had been placed there by a female which had inserted them through the central hole of the husk. Thereby, the eggs were protected from predatory fish. Freshly laid eggs are white, but slowly turn translucent with time, making the developing cuttlefish clearly visible. From emergence, hatchling ''A. pfefferi'' are capable of producing the same camouflage patterns as adults; they are truly precocial and do not receive any care from their parents.

Commercial value

A toxicology report has confirmed that the muscle tissue of flamboyant cuttlefish is highly toxic, making it only the third

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

found to be poisonous. Research by Mark Norman with the

Museum Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation that includes a number of museums and related bodies in Melbourne. These include Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks (Melbourne), Scienceworks, IMAX Melbourne, a research institute, the UNESCO W ...

in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, has shown the toxin to be the same as that of fellow cephalopod the

blue-ringed octopus Blue-ringed octopuses, comprising the genus ''Hapalochlaena'', are four extremely venomous species of octopus that are found in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia. They can be identified by thei ...

.NOVA, 2007. Cuttlefish: Kings of Camouflage.
elevision programNOVA, PBS, April 3, 2007.
Transcript
However, preliminary results from researchers at

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...

and

Utah State University-Uintah Basin Utah State University Uintah Basin is a part of the Utah State University (USU) Statewide Campusesystemlocated in Roosevelt, Utah, with an additional campus in Vernal. The Uintah Basin campus was the first USU regional campus. USU Uintah Basin ...

found only trace amounts of

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an Order (biology), order that includes Tetraodontidae, pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Alt ...

in the flamboyant cuttlefish. The concentrations found in were too low to be toxic to humans. ''A. pfefferi'' represents no interest to

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

due to their potential toxicity. If its supply were steady, the spectacular colour and textural displays of this species would make it an excellent candidate for private

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

s. The species is sometimes seen in

public aquarium A public aquarium () or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and aquatic plant, plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, ...

s, available through captive breeding programs, such as the

Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in Octob ...

.Grasse, Bret (2014). ''The Biological Characteristics, Life Cycle, and System Design for the Flamboyant and Paintpot Cuttlefish, Metasepia sp., Cultured Through Multiple Generations.'' Drum and Croaker 45: 58-71.

Gallery

File:Ascarosepion pfefferi (14519167637).jpg,

Wakatobi National Park Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was established in 2002. The name of Wakatobi is a portmanteau of the four main Tukangbesi Islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Since 2005 t ...

, 2014 File:Flamboyant Cuttlefish-2.jpg,

File:Ascarosepion pfefferi (19828190511).jpg, Wakatobi File:Ascarosepion pfefferi at Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2014.jpg,

File:Ascarosepion pfefferi grabs shrimp with tentacles.webm, Stalking a shrimp, Museum of Science,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

File:Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi) (6059851762).jpg,

Lembeh Strait Lembeh Strait is a strait in Indonesia, separating the islands of Sulawesi and Lembeh. The town of Bitung and Tongkoko volcano are located on the western side of the strait. The strait is known for its abundant and colorful marine life, in par ...

File:Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi) eating a Nosestripe Sandperch (Parapercis lineopunctata) (8461468527).jpg, Eating a sandperch (''

Parapercis lineopunctata ''Parapercis lineopunctata'', the nosestripe sandperch, is a ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species ...

''), Lembeh File:Сuttlefish Ascarosepion pfefferi crawls along the sandy bottom. Apo reef nature reserve. Philippines.jpg,

Apo Reef Apo Reef is a coral reef system in the Philippines situated in the western waters of Occidental Mindoro province in the Mindoro Strait. Encompassing , it is considered the world's second-largest contiguous coral reef system, and is the largest in ...

References

* Ross, R. 2010
Aquarium Invertebrates: ''Metasepia pfefferi'' – the aptly named Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine.

External links

Richard Ross video and blog of flamboyant cuttlefish on TONMOYouTube video of a flamboyant cuttlefish
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1754577 Metasepia Cephalopods described in 1885 Venomous molluscs Taxa named by William Evans Hoyle