 "Sepia pharaonis" is likely a complex of at least three species, "Sepia pharaonis I", commonly located in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, "S. pharaonis II", located from Japan to the Gulf of Thailand and northern Australia; and "S. pharaonis III", located from the Indian Ocean to the Andaman Sea.The type specimen was collected in the Gulf of Suez and is deposited at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.The pharaoh cuttlefish is native to at least the western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.