Sepia tuberculata

Sepia tuberculata is a species of cuttlefish native to South African waters from Melkbosstrand (an area near Cape Town) (33°43′S 18°26′E) to Knysna (In the South) (34°03′S 23°03′E).[3] It belongs to the genus Sepia.[4] It lives in very shallow water to a depth of 3 m.[5] It is endemic.

Sepia tuberculata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Sepiida
Family: Sepiidae
Genus: Sepia
Subgenus: Sepia
Species:
S. tuberculata
Binomial name
Sepia tuberculata

The type specimen was collected off the coast of South Africa and is deposited at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.[6]

Description

Sepia tuberculata grows to a mantle length of 82 mm.[5] The upper surface of the body is rough with variably extending bumps. The lower body surface has two glandular patches. Like all cuttlefish, this species has ten arms, of which two are elongated tentacles used for catching prey. It has narrow fins which extend the length of the body.[7]

Ecology

Sepia tuberculata is capable of changing colour rapidly. It feeds on shrimps. It uses its glandular patches to cling to rocks.

Threats

It is the prey of the Cape Clawless Otter – an opportunistic mammal that is adept at capturing available prey. It is often caught in the Tsitsikama Coastal National Park in South Africa.[8] It is part of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species however it is considered “data deficient” since there is very little published information on the species and thus cannot be put into a Red List Category.[9] A huge threat to Sepia tuberculata, as well as many other Cephalopods, is ocean acidification due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Changes in the 33chemistry of seawater has been found to increase calcification rates in a relative of S. tuberculata, S. officinalis. Increased calcification in the cuttlebone has a negative impact in that it affects the cuttlebone’s function as a lightweight, buoyancy structure in cuttlefish.[10]

Cuttlefish have made a lot of the earnings for several fisheries in the English Channel however it is unknown if S. tuberculata is of interest to fisheries in South Africa.[11]

Prey

Not much is known about specific prey preference S. tuberculata, but the common cuttlefish is known to feed on shrimp. This exhibition of food preference is shown very early in life for cuttlefish and suggests that choosing to prey on shrimp is an innate behavior.[12]

Adaptations

Much of the research published about Sepia tuberculata has been concerning the topic of adhesion. Adhesion is a common occurrence that is used by many plants and animals including Cephalopods, the class to which all Cuttlefish belong.[4] It is effectively bonding, or how plants and animals hold onto substrates. Adhesion, for Cephalopods, typically happens by means of a pressure system that includes use of the suckers on their and tentacles.[13] Sepia are one taxa of cephalopods that produce a chemical substance to be used for adhesion; the use of this secretion varies depending on each specific animal. In addition, S. tuberculata is one of at least four Sepia species that actually possesses an adhesive structure.[14]

No information has been published on whether or not S. tuberculata has the ability to change colors/produce patterns on its body, but the common cuttlefish, S. officinalis, possesses the ability to produce 13 different body patterns composed of a number of different chromatic, textural, postural and locomotor components in its body. The changing of body patterns is primarily used for concealment, and specific patterns are chosen depending on the strategy the cuttlefish intends to use be that disruptive coloration or general color resemblance .[15]

References
  1. Barratt, I.; Allcock, L. (2012). "Sepia tuberculata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012: e.T162545A912889. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T162545A912889.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Julian Finn (2016). "Sepia tuberculata Lamarck, 1798". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  3. Jereb, P.; Roper, Clyde F. E., eds. (2005). Cephalopods of the world : an annotated and illustrated catalogue of cephalopod species known to date. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 978-9251053836. OCLC 71193186.
  4. von Byern, Janek; Scott, Robyn; Griffiths, Charles; Micossi, Andrea; Grunwald, Ingo; Cyran, Norbert (2011-10-01). "Characterization of the adhesive areas in Sepia tuberculata (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)". Journal of Morphology. 272 (10): 1245–1258. doi:10.1002/jmor.10980. ISSN 1097-4687. PMID 21688295. S2CID 5894947.
  5. Reid, A., P. Jereb, & C.F.E. Roper 2005. Family Sepiidae. In: P. Jereb & C.F.E. Roper, eds. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species known to date. Volume 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 4, Vol. 1. Rome, FAO. pp. 57–152.
  6. Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda
  7. Roeleveld, M.A. 1972. A review of the Sepiidae (Cephalopoda) of southern Africa. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 59(10): 193–313.
  8. Van Der Zee, D. (1981). "Prey of the Cape clawless otter (Aonyx capensis) n the Tsitsikama Coastal National Park, South Africa". Journal of Zoology. 194 (4): 467–483. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1981.tb04595.x.
  9. IUCN (2009). "Sepia tuberculata: Barratt, I. & Allcock, L.". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2012-1.rlts.t162545a912889.en.
  10. Gutowska, Magdalena A.; Melzner, Frank; Pörtner, Hans O.; Meier, Sebastian (2010-07-01). "Cuttlebone calcification increases during exposure to elevated seawater pCO2 in the cephalopod Sepia officinalis". Marine Biology. 157 (7): 1653–1663. doi:10.1007/s00227-010-1438-0. ISSN 0025-3162. S2CID 3667767.
  11. Dunn, M.R. (1999). "Aspects of the stock dynamics and exploitation of cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, in the English Channel". Fisheries Research. 40: 277–293. doi:10.1016/s0165-7836(98)00223-9.
  12. Darmaillacq, Anne-Sophie; Chichery, Raymond; Poirier, Roseline; Dickel, Ludovic (2004-12-01). "Effect of early feeding experience on subsequent prey preference by cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis". Developmental Psychobiology. 45 (4): 239–244. doi:10.1002/dev.20034. ISSN 1098-2302. PMID 15549683.
  13. Kier, W. M.; Smith, A. M. (1990-04-01). "The Morphology and Mechanics of Octopus Suckers". The Biological Bulletin. 178 (2): 126–136. doi:10.2307/1541971. ISSN 0006-3185. JSTOR 1541971. PMID 29314931.
  14. von Byern, Janek; Klepal, Waltraud (2006). "Adhesive mechanisms in cephalopods". Biofouling. 22 (5): 329–338. doi:10.1080/08927010600967840. PMID 17110356.
  15. Hanlon, R. T.; Messenger, J. B. (1988-08-12). "Adaptive coloration in young cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis L.): the morphology and development of body patterns and their relation to behaviour". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 320 (1200): 437–487. Bibcode:1988RSPTB.320..437H. doi:10.1098/rstb.1988.0087. ISSN 0080-4622.
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