Common cuttlefish

Scientific name : Sepia officinalis

Oval body, ornate by a thin fin that borders the whole animal. The head bears two big well-developed eyes and ten tentacles; eight of them are short and fat, with suckers along the whole surface, and two are thin and long, with suckers only in the terminal paddle-like portion. The mouth, with a strong beak, is placed among the tentacles. The shell is in dorsal position, internal and not visible in vivo.
The cuttlefish is able to change in colour due to mimetic needs or change in climate.
It may reach a maximum length of thirty centimetres, excluding the longest tentacles.

It may be found on sandy bottoms, from shallow waters up to hundred meters of depth.
Very active predator, especially during the night time, it feeds on different invertebrates.
It swims close to the bottom by mean of the short fin, but it is able to perform quick accelerations thanks to the expulsion of water from the siphon. In this case, it usually produces the famous “ink”, a black substance useful in disorienting the potential predator.