FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

740 Cephalopods
Sepia brevimana Steenstrup, 1875
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Sepia rostrata
Férussac and d’Orbigny, 1848 / Sepia stellifera Homenko
and Khromov, 1984.
FAO names: En - Shortclub cuttlefish; Fr - Seiche petites
mains; Sp - Sepia mazicorta.
Diagnostic characters: Mantle blunt-pointed posteriorly.
Tentacular club small; with 5 to 8 minute suckers in
transverse rows; swimming keel extending well beyond
sucker-bearing face; dorsal and ventral protective
membranes not fused at base of club, dorsal membrane
much wider than ventral membrane. Cuttlebone very
angular, V-shaped anteriorly; dorsal surface flat, texture
uniformly pustulose; spine present, long, keels present
dorsally and ventrally, also with nose-like protuberance in the
anterior part of spine; a shallow, narrow sulcus extending
along striated zone, flanked by rounded ribs; anterior striae
inverted V-shape; inner cone limbs broaden posteriorly,
thickened, rose-coloured or yellowish orange, outer
margin of inner cone forming a raised, flattened ledge
posteriorly; outer cone narrow anteriorly, broadens
posteriorly. Colour: buff-brown.
Size: Maximum mantle length 100 mm. In the Gulf of
Thailand, commonly caught at 40 to 60 mm mantle length,
with a maximum mantle length of 90 mm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A demersal species,
ranging to a depth of 100 m. The vertical range is 10 to 40 m
10 mm
and the peak occurrence 30 to 40 m in the Gulf of Thailand
ventral view
and the Andaman Sea, with the sex ratio of males to females
caught 1:2.2. Important to the commercial squid fishery in
cuttlebone
Thailand. Most are caught using otter trawl, some using pair
trawl, and small catches are made using squid light-lures, traps and push nets, with bottom otter and pair
trawls used offshore, and push nets and lift nets used in inshore and coastal waters. It is also fished in
South China Sea.
Distribution: Southern India to the Andaman Sea, Gulf of Tonkin, including Java, Sulu, and Celebes Seas.
Remarks: The number of tentacular club suckers in transverse rows has been recorded as 5, 5 to 8, and
6 to 8 by various workers. The exact number needs to be confirmed. Can be confused with Sepia stellifera,
but differs in having up to 8,
rather than 10 suckers in
transverse rows on the club,
and the shallow and narrow
sulcus of the cuttlebone,
which is deep and wide in S.
stellifera. Similar to S.
esculenta, but differs in having
fewer club suckers (10 to 16
suckers in transverse rows in
S. esculenta), in having no
fleshy papillae along the base
of the fins, and in having a
coloured inner cone.