Metasepia tullbergi

Metasepia tullbergi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Order:	Sepiida
Family:	Sepiidae
Genus:	Metasepia
Species:	M. tullbergi
Binomial name
Metasepia tullbergi Appellöf, 1886
Synonyms
Sepia tullbergi Appellöf, 1886

Metasepia tullbergi (also known as the paintpot cuttlefish or the northern flamboyant cuttlefish) is a small cuttlefish that lives in the seas between Japan and Hong Kong. Metasepia tullbergi has been assessed as Data Deficient despite a fairly wide geographic distribution because it occurs in an area where fishing pressures are generally high and no data are available as to the level at which it is fished, or of the level of exploitation connected to the aquarium trade.

Geographical Range

The geographic distribution of this species ranges from southern Japan southwards to the Gulf of Thailand and encompasses the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, and East and South China Seas.

Habitat And Ecology

This species is a neritic demersal species and is usually found on sandy, muddy and rocky habitats (amongst sea pens in the latter) on the continental shelf at approximately 100 m. In the spring (March-May), mature individuals migrate to shallower (approximately 20 m), rocky regions to spawn (Reid et al. 2005). The young hatch during the summer and migrate to deeper depths in late summer.

External links

• "CephBase: Metasepia tullbergi". Archived from the original on 2005.