Cuttlefish

Heteroteuthis dispar

Cephalopods
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth70–690 m
Water temperature9–29 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonRare

About this species

Heteroteuthis dispar, also known as the odd bobtail, is a small deep water squid found in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Heteroteuthis dispar”, 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: 1 records
February: 7 records
March: 30 records
April: 9 records
May: 65 records
June: 31 records
July: 2 records
August: 14 records
September: 31 records
October: 2 records
November: 7 records
December: 3 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 70–690 m · Deepest record: 1,734.5 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 5 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 6 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 14 records
110+ m: 146 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–29 °C

8–10 °C: 4 records
10–12 °C: 2 records
12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 15 records
18–20 °C: 128 records
20–22 °C: 49 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 6 records
28–30 °C: 6 records

Names and classification

English: Cuttlefish, Odd bobtail, Odd bobtail squid, cuttlefish, odd bobtail, odd bobtail squid

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: globito aberrante
French: sépiole différente, Sépiole différente

Other scientific names: Heteroteuthis (Heteroteuthis) dispar, Rossia dispar, Sepiola dispar

Similar species

Heteroteuthis hawaiiensis
Heteroteuthis serventyi
North Pacific bobtail squid
Rossia pacifica
Southern bobtail squid
Euprymna tasmanica
Double-ear bobtail
Euprymna berryi
Hawaiian Bobtail
Euprymna scolopes

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).
220 open-data records from 1960 to 2011.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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