The North Qilian Mountains region is an important component of the Proto-Tethys Archipelagic Palaeocean. The Koumenzi Formation (Katian, Upper Ordovician) in the region yields a significant number of Ordovician fossils, of which cephalopods have rarely been systematically studied and recorded. Herein, a moderately preserved cephalopod collection from the Koumenzi Formation is presented from the North Qilian Mountains, Qilian Orogenic Belt. This fossil assemblage, obtained from the section near the upper reaches of the Tianbao River, Qilian County, Qinghai Province, consists of Anaspyroceras sp., Geisonocerina? sp., Paradnatoceras nyalamense, as well as some unnamed oncoceratoid and orthoceratoid cephalopods. Furthermore, quantitative palaeoecological analyses based on global occurrences, uncover notable provincialism of Katian cephalopods. Two cephalopod provinces related to palaeolatitude are recognised by cluster analysis and weighted network analysis. Global oceanic currents might have been responsible for the pattern of the (c) 2025 Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.