The pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis)  is a tropical species, with distribution from 35° N to 30° S and from 30° E to 140° E in the Indo-Pacific (i.e., in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea to South China Sea, East China Sea, and northern and northwestern Australia) (Roper et al. 1984). The stock structure is unknown, this profile is defined as an assessment unit.

This species grows to a maximum dorsal mantle length (DML) of 43 cm for males and 33 cm for females; common sizes in landings range from 15 to 20 cm (Roper et al. 1984). On the west coast of India, the sizes of cuttlefish in the fishery range between 14.5 and 21.5 cm (max: 33.4 cm)(Silas et al. 1982).