Giclee reprint of an original lithograph from Antoine Risso’s Mollusques Céphalopodes vivants observés dans le parage méditerranéen du Comté de Nice published in 1854. This rare, illustrated text documented local cephalopod species, including the common cuttlefish, in Mediterranean waters. The work features 33 hand-colored plates by artist Philippe Geny.

The common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is a master of adaptation native to the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Reaching a mantle length of up to 45 centimeters, this highly intelligent cephalopod is renowned for its specialized skin cells that allow it to instantaneously alter both its color patterns and skin texture for flawless camouflage. It features eight suckered arms, two elongated hunting tentacles, and a unique, porous internal shell—the cuttlebone—which acts as a sophisticated buoyancy control device. Historically celebrated in natural history art, this species is also the original source of "sepia" ink, a rich, reddish-brown pigment extracted from its ink sac that has been used by artists and naturalists for centuries to pen and wash master illustrations.