First record of the Oman cuttlefish, Sepia omani Adam and Rees, 1966 from Maharashtra waters

Abstract

Many new records of cephalopods are reported from Maharashtra waters over the years. A new entrant of cuttlefish, Sepia omani Adam and Rees, 1966 (Fig. 1) was observed in trawl catches at New Ferry Wharf, Mumbai. The depth of operation was about 30-40 m at 70-80 km north of Mumbai coast.The species was observed in the catch in April 2009. The dorsal mantle length of the species landed ranged from 40 to 75 mm with corresponding weight ranging from 17.66 to 59.73 g. According to Jereb et al. (2005) the maximum mantle length of this species is100 mm.The occurrence of S. omani is reported for the first time from Maharashtra waters.