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Belosaepia

Belosaepia
Temporal range: Eocene
Belosepia sepioidea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Sepiida
Family: Belosaepiidae
Genus: Belosaepia
Species
  • B. ungula Gabb, 1860 (= B. uncinata, B. harrisi, B. alabamensis voltzi Palmer, 1937)[1]
  • B. veatchii Palmer, 1937 (= B. alabamensis Palmer, 1937)[1]
  • B. saccaria Palmer, 1937

Belosaepia, occasionally incorrectly Belosepia,[2] is an extinct genus of cuttlefish-like cephalopod known from the Eocene.[1]

Morphology

Species of the genus Belosaepia reached 18 centimetres (7.1 in) in length and 5 centimetres (2.0 in) across and had a large siphuncle that penetrated its oblique septa.[1] The shell was endogastrically coiled.[1] It had a small belemnite-like guard, which took the form of a short horn at the posterior end of the shell;[1] usually, only a small portion of the shell closest to the guard is preserved. The chambers in the shell closely resemble those present in the cuttlebone of modern cuttlefish.[1]

Ecology

Belosaepia lived close to the sea floor.[1]

References