Sepia apama 2🐚

Photo: Yvonne · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesSepiidaSepiidae
Molluscs

🐚Giant cuttlefish

Sepia apama Gray, 1849

The giant cuttlefish, also known as the Australian giant cuttlefish, is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to 50 cm (20 in) in mantle length and up to 100 cm (39 in) in total length. They can weigh over 10.5 kg (23 lb). Like all cuttlefish species, the giant cuttlefish has eight arms and two feeding tentacles, as well as blue blood and three hearts. Using cells known as chromatophores, the cuttlefish can put on spectacular displays, changing colour in an instant. The giant cuttlefish is native to temperate and subtropical waters of Australia, from Brisbane in Queensland to Shark Bay in Western Australia and Tasmania to the south. It occurs on rocky reefs, seagrass beds, and sand and mud seafloor to a depth of 100 m (330 ft). The genetically distinct population in the Upper Spencer Gulf is the most studied population, and has become a tourist attraction.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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vs you
≈ 1/6th of your weight
Also called
Giant Australian cuttlefish, Giant Australian Cuttlefish
Conservation status
NTNear threatened

IUCN Red List assessment, 2012.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
11 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Giant cuttlefish

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
11 kgmaximum recorded
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Mantle length
0.5 mmaximum recorded, mantle length
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Volume l
11 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Giant cuttlefish yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.

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More about the Giant cuttlefish

In other languages
Sepia apama (es), Sepia apama (fr), דיונון אוסטרלי (he), Riesensepia (de), オーストラリアコウイカ (ja), Sepia apama (sk) … and 13 more languages
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