Mollusca · mollusks

Flamboyant cuttlefish

Metasepia pfefferi

Sepiidae · cuttlefishIUCN: Data Deficient
Flamboyant cuttlefish
Photo: Lakshmi Sawitri · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A small, toxic cuttlefish that walks on the seafloor flashing purple, yellow, and red.

Fun factIt is one of the few cephalopods known to have toxic muscle tissue.

Waters
Indo-Pacific
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Coral reefs
Diet
Small fish & crustaceans
Size
Mantle up to 8 cm

Classification

Mollusca › Cephalopoda › Sepiida › Sepiidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Protostomia protostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening usually becomes the mouth
    • Main nerve cord runs along the belly (ventral)
    • Includes mollusks, worms, and arthropods
  4. Clade Spiralia mollusks, worms & kin
    • Embryos usually divide in a spiral pattern (spiral cleavage)
    • Many have a swimming larva with a band of cilia (trochophore)
    • Includes mollusks and segmented worms
  5. Phylum Mollusca mollusks
    • Soft body with a muscular foot and a fold of tissue (mantle) that makes the shell
    • Most have a rasping, tongue-like ribbon of teeth (radula)
    • Includes snails, clams, octopuses, and chitons
  6. Class Cephalopoda cephalopods
    • Foot is modified into arms and tentacles around the head
    • Large brains and camera-like eyes
    • Jet propulsion by squirting water through a funnel (siphon)
  7. Subclass Coleoidea octopuses, squids & cuttlefish
    • Shell is internal, reduced, or absent
    • Most have an ink sac and color-changing skin cells (chromatophores)
    • Includes octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish
  8. Superorder Decapodiformes squids & cuttlefish
    • Ten appendages: eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles
    • Includes squids, cuttlefish, and bobtail squids
  9. Order Sepiida cuttlefish
    • Cuttlefish with a chalky internal shell (cuttlebone) for buoyancy
    • W-shaped pupils and a fin around the whole body
  10. Family Sepiidae cuttlefish
    • Masters of camouflage that change color and skin texture in an instant
  11. Genus Metasepia
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  12. Species Metasepia pfefferi Flamboyant cuttlefish

Closest relatives in the guide