Sepia officinalis. Laminae held apart by innumerable pillars enclosing gas filled cavities. Earlier cavities at top, 0.3 mm wide. Later cavities, 0.6mm wide, at base. Cuttlebone floats when separated from body. July 1968. Port Mary, Kircudbright. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder I.F. Smith
Sepia officinalis. 13mm section of soft chalky laminae enclosing 20 gas cavities. >100 laminae if 210mm long cuttlebone sectioned diagonally from dorsal-posterior to ventral-anterior. 1.6-18.7 laminae produced per month. Jly 1968. Port Mary, Kircudbright. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder I.F. Smith
Sepia officinalis. Cuttlebone, below conchiolin (3) a layer (20mm) of over 100 soft chalky laminae (1) enclosing gas filled cavities. Floats when separated from body. 2: beak marks of sea birds. July 1968. Strandline, Port Mary, Kircudbright. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder I.F. Smith
Sepia officinalis. Cuttlebone, 1: sheet (0.6mm) of translucent, horny-yellow, conchiolin, only visible at edges until erosion of 2: white, hard, rugose, calcareous, dorsal layer (0.7mm) with many growth lines; Jly 1968. Strandline, Port Mary, Kircudbright Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder I.F. Smith
Sepia officinalis. Brown camouflage when swimming over brown seaweed . June 2007. Sublittoral. Leiria, Portugal. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/
Sepia officinalis. Iridophore cells reflecting white light tinted violet by some chromataphores to give glow of superficial violet iridescence. June, 2012. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/
Sepia officinalis. Iridophore cells reflecting white light tinted blue by some chromataphores to give glow of superficial blue iridescence. June, 2012. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/
Sepia officinalis. Eggs, in tough, black, onion-shape case, expelled individually through respiratory funnel and attached by stalk to seaweed or other objects to form bunch of up to 300 black “grapes”. March 2011. Sublittoral. Leiria, Portugal. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/
Sepia officinalis. Body dark with blotches of white to camouflage against seabed with white pebbles. October 2011.Sublittoral. Setúbal, Portugal. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/
Sepia officinalis. Camouflaged resting on/in sand, with sand blown onto back and mantle surface raised into granules resembling sand. May 2011. Sublittoral. Sezimbra, Setúbal, Portugal. Species Sepia officinalis Photographer / copyright holder João Pedro Silva http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/