Common name: Cuttlefish.

Scientific name: Sepia officinalis Linnaeus, 1758

Family: Sepiidae

Distribution and Habitat: Its presence in the region is common. It inhabits the infralittoral bottoms.

Description: It has a wide body, slightly dorso-ventrally compressed, with 2 narrow swimming membranes laterally arranged and separated at the animals posterior part. Of its 10 arms, 2 are significantly bigger and have suckers on the ends, while on the other arms the suckers are smaller and arranged in 4 rows. It reaches 40 cm in length and may weigh 4 Kg. The colouration is variable thanks to its mimicking capacity; however it often presents a brown colour with light dorsol stripes.

Conservation statute and Threats: -

Observations: Species with some commercial value and extremely common in the Madeira Archipelago.