Belosaepia

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

Belosaepia
Temporal range: Eocene
Scientific classification
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

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
  1. Yancey, T. E.; Garvie, C. L.; Wicksten, M. (2010). "The Middle Eocene Belosaepia ungula (Cephalopoda: Coleoida) from Texas: Structure, Ontogeny and Function" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 84 (2): 267–287. doi:10.1666/09-018R.1.
  2. e.g. "Functional Morphology of the Eocene Coleoid Belosepia".
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