The developmental changes in the concentration of 8 essential and non-essential heavy metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Co, Fe, Pb, V, Zn) in the tissues (digestive gland, cuttlebone and whole animal) of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis collected in the bay of the river Seine were monitored from the end of the embryogenesis until the adult reproductive stage. Compared to embryos, juveniles after hatch...

Sepia officinalis egg protection is ensured by a complex capsule produced by the female accessory genital glands and the ink bag. Our study is focused on the proteins constituting the main egg case. De novo transcriptomes from female genital glands provided essential databases for protein identification. A proteomic approach in SDS-PAGE coupled with MS unveiled a new egg case protein family: Se...

Polar lipids of the cephalopods Eledone moschata, Sepia officinalis and Todarodes sagittatus mantle, represent 50.5%, 66.1% and 74.2% of wet tissue respectively. On the other hand the polar lipids of these three species of cephalopods constitute of 80.8%, 94.8% and 93.7% of phospholipids, respectively. The main phospholipids identified were phosphatidylcholine (52.2, 51.3 and 58.4% of total pho...

The present study was undertaken to verify ancient data in the literature on ovipositional preference o f the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis for the terrestrial plant Pistacia lentiscus (mastic tree). Adult specimens o f Sepia were placed in basins together with aerial parts not only of P. lentiscus, but also o f Artemisia arborescens, Centaurea alba var. deusta, Quercus ilex and Laurus nobilis. ...

Meeting the increasing demand of clean water requires the development of novel efficient adsorbent materials for the removal of organic pollutants. In this context the use of natural, renewable sources is of special relevance and sepia melanin, thanks to its ability to bind a variety of organic and inorganic species, has already attracted interest for water purification. Here we describe the sy...