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Chapter 12
Sepia pharaonis
Jaruwat Nabhitabhata
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_12,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
J. Nabhitabhata ()
Excellence Centre for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand, Faculty of Science,
Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
e-mail: jaruwat.n5@gmail.com; jaruwat.n@psu.ac.th
Abstract The pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, is one of the largest and economically important sepiid cuttlefish in the Indo-Southwest Pacific region. The
species became a focus for aquaculture when all previous researches agreed that it
is an “easy-to-culture” species due to its reproducibility and high tolerability to culture conditions, hence a high feasibility for commercial scale culture. The cuttlefish
benthic habit is one of the advantages for high-density culture which results in high
survival. The aquaculture process comprises a collection of live broodstocks, incubation of eggs, nursing of young and growout. The culture methodology is studied
in tropical and temperate countries either in closed or in opened seawater systems.
Several consecutive generations can be cultured in both systems. Different culture
conditions yield different results in growth, final size and longevity of life span.
Success in training the pharaoh cuttlefish to feed on dead food yields the success of
the culture. The cuttlefish can be cultured as human food, fresh and frozen, ornamental and experimental animals. Various sizes of cuttlefish supplying such various
purposes can be produced through difference in culture periods. Innate feeding on
specific live prey during the early phase of cuttlefish life is the bottleneck for largescale culture.
Keywords Sepia pharaonis · Large cuttlefish · Benthic habit · High tolerability ·
Closed and opened seawater systems · Consecutive generations · Various purposes
12.1 Importance of this Species in the Market
The vernacular of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, in Thai is “pla muek kradong lai sua” and in Japanese is “torafu-kouika”. Both names similarly mean “tiger
cuttlefish” after the transverse striped pattern on the dorsum, especially in the male.
The pharaoh cuttlefish is a neritic demersal species, occurring in coastal shallows
down to a depth of 100 m (Chotiyaputta 1995). The geographical distribution of
Chapter 12
Sepia pharaonis
Jaruwat Nabhitabhata
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_12,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
J. Nabhitabhata ()
Excellence Centre for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand, Faculty of Science,
Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
e-mail: jaruwat.n5@gmail.com; jaruwat.n@psu.ac.th
Abstract The pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, is one of the largest and economically important sepiid cuttlefish in the Indo-Southwest Pacific region. The
species became a focus for aquaculture when all previous researches agreed that it
is an “easy-to-culture” species due to its reproducibility and high tolerability to culture conditions, hence a high feasibility for commercial scale culture. The cuttlefish
benthic habit is one of the advantages for high-density culture which results in high
survival. The aquaculture process comprises a collection of live broodstocks, incubation of eggs, nursing of young and growout. The culture methodology is studied
in tropical and temperate countries either in closed or in opened seawater systems.
Several consecutive generations can be cultured in both systems. Different culture
conditions yield different results in growth, final size and longevity of life span.
Success in training the pharaoh cuttlefish to feed on dead food yields the success of
the culture. The cuttlefish can be cultured as human food, fresh and frozen, ornamental and experimental animals. Various sizes of cuttlefish supplying such various
purposes can be produced through difference in culture periods. Innate feeding on
specific live prey during the early phase of cuttlefish life is the bottleneck for largescale culture.
Keywords Sepia pharaonis · Large cuttlefish · Benthic habit · High tolerability ·
Closed and opened seawater systems · Consecutive generations · Various purposes
12.1 Importance of this Species in the Market
The vernacular of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, in Thai is “pla muek kradong lai sua” and in Japanese is “torafu-kouika”. Both names similarly mean “tiger
cuttlefish” after the transverse striped pattern on the dorsum, especially in the male.
The pharaoh cuttlefish is a neritic demersal species, occurring in coastal shallows
down to a depth of 100 m (Chotiyaputta 1995). The geographical distribution of