top of page
I aim to make atlases and monographs of cephalopods by natural history illustrations. Cephalopods are very attractive marine invertebrates by remarkable intelligence, a complex nervous system, and rapidly changing external appearance.
To understand cephalopod's natural history, describing their shape is important because it is the basis of understanding them. I study the functional morphology and anatomy of cephalopods. I want to understand the exact whole structure of cephalopods via detailed morphological descriptions and investigate the structure's function.
Among the cephalopods, I'm particularly interested in Paintpot cuttlefish (Metasepia tullbergi), which prefers slow walking over swimming on the sea floor.
[How do Metasepia cuttlefish walk on the sea floor?]
Most decapodiform cephalopods swim in the ocean. However, Metasepia cuttlefish walk on the sea bottom by the ventral arms and the ambulatory flaps, which are erected from the ventral mantle. In this study, we examined the mechanism of walking by morphological and behavioural observations. (Omura, 2020; Omura et al.,2022, Omura et al.,under review)
[Functional morphology of arms and tentacles of Broadclub cuttlefish]
Cuttlefish feeds mainly by using its tentacles and arms: two long tentacles are extended to catch prey, and then eight arms hold it. In this study, we are investigating how the morphology of the tentacles and arms is suitable for catching prey. (Omura and Ikeda, 2021)
[The morphology of the hectocotylus on cuttlefish]
During mating behavior, the male cephalopod grasps a batch of spermatophores (capsules containing sperm) with a specialized arm called 'hectocotylus' and passes it to the female. However, its morphology and detailed usage are still unclear. In this study, we investigate the structure of hectocotylus, and how it is suitable for grasping spermatophore". (under review)
bottom of page