The Sepioidea (Cephalopoda, Mollusca) fauna of the Aegean Sea: comparison with the neighbouring seas and notes on their diet composition

Abstract

Intensive samplings carried out in the Aegean Sea revealed the presence of 3 sepiid and 10 sepiolid species. A checklist of the Mediterranean Sepioidea is presented, as well as their distribution in the Mediterranean territorial areas and the Black Sea. The faunal comparison of the Mediterranean areas showed that the number of species decreases from the west to the east, while in the Black Sea, no sepioid species exist. In terms of zoogeographical categories, the Atlanto-Mediterranean species dominate in all Mediterranean areas followed by the endemic species. Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831 is a Lessepsian migrant while only one species, Stoloteuthis leucoptera (Verrill, 1878), has a cosmopolitan distribution. The diet of the 13 sepioid species is mainly based on Crustacea and Pisces.