12.  Sepia pharaonis

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 large-scale culture.