Common bobtails possess large, rounded pupils, eight arms each having biserial suckers and two arms with 32 tiny uniform-sized suckers in transverse rows to be used for securing their prey.[3] The mantle lengths of the common bobtail differ depending on gender, as males range 15 to 29mm whereas females range 18 to 34mm.[4] The average length of a male common bobtail is 15 to 30mm, with females having an average of 18 to 36mm.[5] The weight of a male common bobtail, between 0.1g - 0.7g.on average is more than a male common bobtail average, 0.2g - 1.4g in mass.
Common bobtail squids eat small molluscs, crustaceans, shrimp and small fish.[6][7] They are predated on by dolphins, sharks, fish, seals and seabirds.[8] The average life expectancy of common bobtails are about 9 months. They are most known for their distribution and abundance in the Mediterranean Sea and the north-east Atlantic Ocean.[9]
^Czudaj, S.; Pereira, J.; Moreno, A.; Costa, A. M.; Saint-Paul, U.; Rosa, R. (2012). "Distribution, abundance, reproduction and ageing of the common bobtail squid Sepietta oweniana (Sepiolidae, Cephalopoda) from the Portuguese Coast". Marine Biology Research. 8 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.594892. S2CID85384226.
^Czudaj, S.; Pereira, J.; Moreno, A.; Costa, A. M.; Saint-Paul, U.; Rosa, R. (2012). "Distribution, abundance, reproduction and ageing of the common bobtail squid Sepietta oweniana (Sepiolidae, Cephalopoda) from the Portuguese Coast". Marine Biology Research. 8 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.594892. S2CID85384226.
^Czudaj, S.; Pereira, J.; Moreno, A.; Costa, A. M.; Saint-Paul, U.; Rosa, R. (2012). "Distribution, abundance, reproduction and ageing of the common bobtail squid Sepietta oweniana (Sepiolidae, Cephalopoda) from the Portuguese Coast". Marine Biology Research. 8 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.594892. S2CID85384226.
^Nixon, M.; Young, J. (2011). "The brains and lives of cephalopods". Oxford: Oxford University Press: 88–89.
^Bergström, B. I. (1985). "Aspects of natural foraging by Sepietta oweniana (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)". Ophelia. 24 (1): 65–74. doi:10.1080/00785236.1985.10426620.
^Czudaj, S.; Pereira, J.; Moreno, A.; Costa, A. M.; Saint-Paul, U.; Rosa, R. (2012). "Distribution, abundance, reproduction and ageing of the common bobtail squid Sepietta oweniana (Sepiolidae, Cephalopoda) from the Portuguese Coast". Marine Biology Research. 8 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.594892. S2CID85384226.
^Czudaj, S.; Pereira, J.; Moreno, A.; Costa, A. M.; Saint-Paul, U.; Rosa, R. (2012). "Distribution, abundance, reproduction and ageing of the common bobtail squid Sepietta oweniana (Sepiolidae, Cephalopoda) from the Portuguese Coast". Marine Biology Research. 8 (1): 74–86. doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.594892. S2CID85384226.