Sepiella japonica   Sasaki, 1929

Japanese spineless cuttlefish
Upload your photos 
All pictures | Google image |
Image of Sepiella japonica (Japanese spineless cuttlefish)
Sepiella japonica

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Cephalopoda | Sepiida | Sepiidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 1695).  Subtropical; 44°N - 22°N, 113°E - 141°E (Ref. 1695)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Northwest Pacific: Japan to South Korea and China.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 20.0 cm ML male/unsexed; (Ref. 275); max. published weight: 0.80 g (Ref. 275)

Short description Morphology

Shell: spineless, cuttlebone width 30 to 35% of length. Mantle: broadly oval, dorsal anterior margin triangular, obtuse; pore of caudal gland at posterior tip ventral to fins. Tentacular clubs elongate, with 20 minute subequal suckers in transverse rows. Arms relatively short. Arm suckers quadriserial; left arm IV hectocotylized in proximal third with the basal part modified by great reduction in size of suckers placed on a transversely ridged surface; ventral 2 rows of suckers close together, dorsal 2 rows separated. Colour: greyish brown. Dorsal mantle covered with white blotches or spots. Fins with pale reflective line along base. No spots or wine-coloured patches at base of fins.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

It is a coastal demersal species, with depth up to about 50 m. Dominant cuttlefish caught around the Chekiang and Kiangsu, China. It is also important in the fisheries of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, caught in large numbers in bottom trawls. In Japan, most of the catch is dried and marketed as ‘surume’ (Ref. 275).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Cephalopoda are gonochoric. Male and female adults usually die shortly after spawning and brooding, respectively. Mating behavior: Males perform various displays to attract potential females for copulation. During copulation, male grasp the female and inserts the hectocotylus into the female's mantle cavity where fertilization usually occurs. Life cycle: Embryos hatch into planktonic stage and live for some time before they grow larger and take up a benthic existence as adults.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jereb, P. and C.F.E. Roper (eds.). 2005. (Ref. 1695)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 19 March 2009

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
| FishSource |

Tools

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items
Diet
Food consumption
Ration
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth
Age/Size
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Human Related
Aquaculture profile
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Outreach
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): High.