Abstract:The beaks of cephalopods have stable chemical compositions and firm physical structures. Recently, with the increasing use of stable isotope analysis in ecology, it becomes a powerful tool and complement of traditional methods for investigating the trophic ecology and migration patterns of invertebrates. This research was based on 18 Uroteuthis duvauceli specimens, 18 Sepiella maindronis specimens, 20 Octopus ocellatus specimens and 15 Uroteuthis edulis specimens, which were collected in August 2013 from the East China Sea. The beaks of these four kinds of offshore species were studied by determining their carbon stable isotope(13C/12C,δ13C)and nitrogen stable isotope(15N/14N,δ15N).In order to find the differences of these species' habitats and the foraging behaviors, the δ13C and δ15N values were analyzed to see whether there was a correlation with their mantle lengths. The study aimed to explain the habitats of different cephalopods and find their position in the ecological system, not only providing materials for further development and management, but also giving a basis for the better use of these species. The results showed that the average values of mantle length for four species:U.duvauceli > U.edulis > S.maindroni > O.ocellatus(122.72mm > 67.93 mm > 67.93 mm > 35.3 mm). The average values of body weight for four species:U.duvauceli > S.maindroni > O.ocellatus > U.edulis > (70.39 g > 50.67 g > 47.35 g > 19.93 g). S.maindroni have the maximum δ15N value (10.81‰±0.38‰),the minimum δ13C value (-14.98‰±0.55‰),the minimum C/N(3.08±0.03)and U.edulishave the minimum δ15N value (8.21‰±0.30‰), the maximum δ13C value(-13.00‰±0.54‰), the maximum C/N(3.57±0.06), U.duvauceli and U.edulislive in the shallower water area than the S.maindroni and O.ocellatus. And the δ13C and δ15N values between U.duvauceli and O.ocellatus were very similar (ANOVA, P>0.05), their ecological niches were much overlapped, they may have the similar trophic level. The δ13C and δ15N values of other kinds of species had significant differences (ANOVA, P<0.05). In addition, the δ13C values of U.duvauceli and the mantle length (ML) showed a significant liner relationship (δ13C=0.023 6×LML- 17.429,P<0.05), δ15N values also showed a significant liner relationship with the mantle length (ML) (δ15N=0.017 6×LML+ 6.873,P<0.05), but there was no significant correlation between carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes with the mantle length in S.maindroni, O.ocellatus and U.edulis (P>0.05).It showed that there was no significant connection between feeding habit and mantle length.