Sepiella ornata, or the ornate cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish[3] first described by Sander Rang in 1837 based on a specimen caught in the Gulf of Guinea.[4]
Description
Sepiella ornata has a mantle length of up to 100 millimeters,[4] and a total body length of up to 100 centimeters.[5] It has 10 to 14 suckers on each club (10 to 12 on males and 12 to 14 on females),[3] and a series of spots along dorsal fins, described as either reddish[4] or wine-colored.[3]
Distribution and habitat
Sepiella ornata is found in the east Atlantic ocean along the west coast of Africa, from Cape Blanco in Mauritania to Cape Frio in Namibia,[4] including in Ghana,[citation needed] Namibia (though rarely),[6][7] Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea.[8] It is demersal,[9] with a depth range of 20 to 150 meters, though usually found below 30 meters,[3] and it is most abundant below 50 meters.[4] The species is found between 13 and 16 kilometers offshore.[3] According to Guerra, Gonzalez, Roeleveld, and Jereb it is mostly found on muddy or sandy mud bottoms.[3]
According to Rocha and Cheikh, Sepiella ornata is of potential interest to fisheries.[9] As of 2014, it was mostly caught as bycatch in bottom trawls.[3]
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