Comprising more than 800 extant species, the class Cephalopoda (octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, and nautiluses) is a fascinating group of marine conchiferan mollusks. Recently, the first cephalopod genome (of Octopus bimaculoides) was published, providing a genomic framework, which will enable more detailed investigations of cephalopod characteristics, including developmental, morphological, and behavioural traits. Meanwhile, a robust phylogeny of the members of the subclass Coleoidea (octopuses, squid, cuttlefishes) is crucial for comparative and evolutionary studies aiming to investigate the group’s traits and innovations, but such a phylogeny has proven very challenging to obtain. Here, we present the results of phylogenetic inference at the genus level using mitochondrial and nuclear marker sequences available from public databases. Topologies are presented which show support for (1) the monophyly of the two main superorders, Octobrachia and Decabrachia, and (2) some of the interrelationships at the family level. We have mapped morphological characters onto the tree and conducted molecular dating analyses, obtaining congruent results with previous estimates of divergence in major lineages. Our study also identifies unresolved phylogenetic relationships within the cephalopod phylogeny and insufficient taxonomic sampling among squids excluding the Loliginidae in the Decabrachia and within the Order Cirromorphida in the Octobrachia. Genomic and transcriptomic resources should enable resolution of these issues in the relatively near future. We provide our alignment as an open access resource, to allow other researchers to reconstruct phylogenetic trees upon this work in the future.

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Relationships between growth increments of internal shell and age was studied in three neritic decapod cephalopods cultured in laboratory through their entire life cycles. The studied cephalopods were the nektic Sepioteuthis lessoniana d’Orbigny, 1826, Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831 and Sepiella inermis Van Hasselt, 1835. Most of the relationship models are in cubic parabolic, except when numbers of increments were estimated from age in S. pharaonis. Differences of numbers of increments from the real age were higher in the pelagic S. lessoniana when compared to the benthic sepiids. The differences were higher in juvenile stages (< 60 days after hatching) than adult stages (> 60 days) in the three species. The increment rate is close to the “one day one increment” assumption. The differences of numbers of increments from the ages and the rate of increment apposition revealed the transition point of the life cycle from 60 days of age, corresponding to the sexual maturity or adult stages. Numbers of increments with higher accuracy are reevaluated to be reliable for age determination at least for the neritic species in the tropical zone, where environmental conditions are more stable, regarding the life styles and stages in life cycles of each species.