''Ascarosepion'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

inhabiting the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

al regions of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and East Pacific (comprising part of the

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 ...

region). The genus varies wildly in size, from the two species of small, colorful cuttlefish formerly classified in the genus ''Metasepia'', to the largest species of extant cuttlefish, 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 ...

Taxonomy

''Ascarosepion'' was described in 1884 by French malacologist Alphonse Trémeau de Rochebrune in 1884. He diagnosed it as possessing an "

ovoid 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 ...

body, with narrow

fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foil (fluid mechanics), foils that produce lift (force), lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while travelin ...

Arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

very short but robust which end abruptly in pointed tips. Suckers of varied size set on 3-4 rows. Buccal membrane narrow and wrinkled. The thin, elliptical

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 ...

resembles to a

sandal Sandals are an open type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can sometim ...

in shape, with a

rugose Rugose means "wrinkled". It may refer to: * Rugosa, an extinct order of coral, whose rugose shape earned it the name * Rugose, adjectival form of rugae Species with "rugose" in their names * ''Idiosoma nigrum'', more commonly, a black rugose tra ...

and convex dorsal surface and very flat bottom; two enormous

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

"wings", acuminated at the front and very wide at the rear." ( transl.) The name is derived from a combination of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words ''askaros'' ( ἄσκαρος, translated by Rochebrune as slipper ()) and '' sepion''; the type species, ''A. verreauxi'', was collected off

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

stored in "Mus. Paris", presumably the

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

. Subsequent authors treated ''Ascarosepion'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of '' Sepia'' for over a century. ''Metasepia'' was described from a

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 ...

collected 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 in

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 name is presumably derived from a combination of '' meta-'' and ''sepia''. A 2023 paper revived several genera of cuttlefish and elevated some

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''Sepia'' to full genus level based on molecular sequencing; this study recovered ''Ascarosepion'' as a distinct

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of cuttlefish with the two species previously within ''Metasepia'' nested within its lineage. Genus ''Ascarosepion'' was determined to range from the coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

up to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and the Red and

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

s. This classification scheme has been accepted by various

databases In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and ana ...

, such as

WoRMS The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

, SeaLifeBase,

GBIF The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...

, and

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

Species

accepts the following species: *'' Ascarosepion apama'' ( J. E. Gray, 1849); Giant cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion bandense'' (

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, 1939); Dwarf cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion cultratum'' ( Hoyle, 1885) *'' Ascarosepion filibrachia'' ( A. Reid & Lu, 2005) *'' Ascarosepion latimanus'' ( Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

, 1832); Broadclub cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion mestus'' (J. E. Gray, 1849); Reaper cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion novaehollandiae'' (Hoyle, 1909) *'' Ascarosepion opiparum'' ( Iredale, 1926) *'' Ascarosepion papuense'' (Hoyle, 1885); Papuan cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion pfefferi'' (Hoyle, 1885); Flamboyant cuttlefish *'' Ascarosepion plangon'' (J. E. Gray, 1849) *'' Ascarosepion rozella'' (Iredale, 1926) *'' Ascarosepion tullbergi'' ( Appellöf, 1886); Paintpot cuttlefish

References

* Norman, M.D. 2000. ''Cephalopods: A World Guide''. ConchBooks.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q133273023 Metasepia Cuttlefish Cephalopod genera Taxa named by William Evans Hoyle