Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Ascarosepion pfefferi
- Usual depth23–95 m
- Water temperature23–29 °C
- Best monthsMarch, April, and May
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kai Squires · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Ascarosepion pfefferi, also known as the flamboyant cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish occurring in tropical Indo-Pacific waters off northern Australia, southern New Guinea, as well as numerous islands of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ascarosepion pfefferi”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 52 records
- February: 60 records
- March: 76 records
- April: 87 records
- May: 67 records
- June: 57 records
- July: 53 records
- August: 63 records
- September: 60 records
- October: 63 records
- November: 60 records
- December: 62 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 23–95 m · Deepest record: 108.7 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C
Photos
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Southern Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Prachtsepia
- Spanish
- Sepia llamativa
- French
- Seiche flamboyante
- Japanese
- ミナミハナイカ
- Simplified Chinese
- 火焰花枝
Other scientific names: Metasepia pfefferi, Sepia (Metasepia) pfefferi
Similar species
Broadclub CuttlefishAscarosepion latimanus
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).
- 340 open-data records from 1904 to 2007.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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