#4571 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs
European Common Cuttlefish
🇳🇱 Gewone zeekat ·Sepia officinalis
9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Dennis Rabeling · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 2. © Bernat Garrigós · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Falk Viczian Solarboot-Projekte gGmbH · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Dennis Rabeling · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 6. © Marjolein Vereijken · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Eric Burgers · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 8. © João Pedro Silva · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Maria Emília Martins · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
what is it?
The common cuttlefish or European common cuttlefish ( Sepia officinalis ) is one of the largest and best-known cuttlefish species. It grows to 49 cm in mantle length (ML) and 4 kg in weight. Animals from subtropical seas are smaller and rarely exceed 30 cm in ML.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 785 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #3 most seen of the snails, slugs & other molluscs in NL.
- 13,456 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- European Common Cuttlefish
- Nederlands
- Gewone zeekat
- scientific name
- Sepia officinalis
- class
- Cephalopoda
- order
- Sepiida
- family
- Sepiidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 785
- sightings in Europe
- 10,075
- sightings worldwide
- 13,456
- GBIF records in NL
- 50,661
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 151429, Wikidata Q756724, GBIF 2290849, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.