 "Sepioteuthis" literally means 'cuttlefish squid', from ("sēpía", 'cuttlefish') and ("teuthis", 'squid').It was first described by the French naturalist André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac and named after René Primevère Lesson.The type specimen was collected by Lesson off the coast of New Guinea during the circumnavigational voyage of the French corvette "La Coquille" (1822–1825) under the command of Louis Isidore Duperrey.