Pharaoh Cuttlefish

About this species

The pharaoh cuttlefish is a large cuttlefish species, growing to 42 cm in mantle length and 5 kg in weight.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pharaoh cuttlefish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 66 records
February: 56 records
March: 78 records
April: 67 records
May: 53 records
June: 49 records
July: 75 records
August: 53 records
September: 64 records
October: 66 records
November: 60 records
December: 62 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 20–86 m · Deepest record: 114 m

10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 8 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 6 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 57 records
28–30 °C: 29 records

Photos

(c) Nathan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John Witton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Pharaoh Cuttlefish

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Sepia faraón
French: Seiche pharaon
Japanese: トラフコウイカ
Thai: หมึกกระดองลายเสือ
Simplified Chinese: 虎斑烏賊

Other scientific names: Crumenasepia hulliana, Crumenasepia ursulae, Sepia (Acanthosepion) pharaonis, Sepia formosana, Sepia framea, Sepia hulliana, Sepia koettlitzi, Sepia pharaonis, Sepia rouxii, Sepia singalensis, Sepia tigris, Sepia torosa, Sepia ursulae

Similar species

Broadclub Cuttlefish
Ascarosepion latimanus
Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Ascarosepion pfefferi

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,107 open-data records from 1831 to 2022.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.