''Sepioloidea magna'' is a species of

cuttlefish Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control ...

, more precisely a bottletail squid, of the family

Sepiadariidae Sepiadariidae is a family of cuttlefish, cephalopods in the order Sepiida. Classification * Genus '' Sepiadarium'' ** '' Sepiadarium auritum'' ** '' Sepiadarium austrinum'', southern bottletail squid ** '' Sepiadarium gracilis'' ** ''Sepiadariu ...

, indigenous to the waters off northern Australia. It was described by Amanda Reid in 2009 from specimens which were found in the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the N ...

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the small ...

. It differs from its congeners in the genus ''

Sepioloidea ''Sepioloidea'' is a genus of cephalopod comprising three species. Species * Genus ''Sepioloidea'' ** '' Sepioloidea lineolata'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832), Striped Pyjama Squid ** '' Sepioloidea magna'' Reid, 2009 Reid A. (2009)''Sepioloidea magna ...

'' in its larger size, its modified

hectocotylus A hectocotylus (plural: ''hectocotyli'') is one of the arms of male cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusive ...

, the number of tentacular club suckers and the absence of an obvious colour pattern It has been recorded from relatively deep water, between 225m and 300m, 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 i ...

north of Darwin, Australia, and south of the eastern Indonesian islands of

Tanimbar The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Ford ...

. Other specimens identified as ''Sepioloidea'' and occurring at similar depths, from the

North West Shelf The North West Shelf is a continental shelf region of Western Australia. It includes an extensive oil and gas region off the North West Australia coast in the Pilbara region. Geology Considerable parts of the region are the highest prospective ...

, Scott Reef and the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs, ...

probably also represent this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14331253 Cuttlefish Molluscs described in 2009 Cephalopods of Oceania