[Animals] Cuttlefish (also known as cuttlefish, cuttlefish, cuttlefish or cachón)

[#Wittels-]

Common name: Cuttlefish (also known as cuttlefish, cuttlefish, cuttlefish or cachón)

Scientific name: Sepiida

Type: Invertebrate

Diet: Carnivorous

Average life: One to two years

Size: 4 to 50 centimeters long

 

What are cuttlefish?
Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but intelligent invertebrates related to the octopus, squid, and nautilus. These fascinating creatures can count, exercise self-control, and have numerous cunning tactics to evade predators, including creating their own body double from a cloud of ink. Despite being colorblind, cuttlefish also have remarkable abilities to change color.

The more than 120 different species of cuttlefish are usually solitary animals and can be found in oceans around the world. While most live in shallow water, some species can be found at depths of more than 900 meters.

appearance and behavior
These cephalopods (meaning "head-foot") have eight arms and two long tentacles attached directly to their heads. The mantle, the area behind the eyes that contains the cuttlefish's internal organs, is surrounded by a fringed fin that flaps in an undulating motion to maneuver.

 

Cuttlefish control buoyancy is done by an internal shell called a cuttlebone. By adding different amounts of liquid or gas into small holes within this structure, these animals can change their buoyancy, making them float up or down. They can also move using jet propulsion: filling their body cavities with water, then throwing it out with force to propel themselves backwards.

These predators feed on fish, crabs, prawns, smaller cuttlefish, and shrimp, using extendable tentacles to catch prey that are immobilized with a toxic bite. The cuttlefish's beak, located at the base of its arms, is sharp enough to break through hard crab shells.

Intelligence
Cuttlefish have a large brain-to-body size ratio, among the largest of all invertebrates, which makes them incredibly intelligent. They can count and remember what, where and when they last ate; a memory trait once thought to be unique to humans. Unlike many human toddlers, they can even pass the marshmallow test: A 2021 study found that cuttlefish will eat less food sooner if they know they'll be rewarded with shrimp, their favorite treat, if they wait.

 

camouflage masters
Like other cephalopods, cuttlefish are masters of disguise. By controlling the 10 million colored cells within their skin, they can rapidly change color, pattern, and texture, sometimes completing the illusion by making shapes with their tentacles to better blend in with the background.

These costumes help them deter or evade predators, mimic other species to catch prey, and communicate with other cuttlefish. They can even display two messages at once: at least one male cuttlefish has been seen simultaneously slashing at a female displaying courtship colors on one flank while disguising himself as a female on the other flank to fool a rival male.

Vision
Although famous for their ability to change color, these "chameleons of the sea" are colorblind. They have distinctive W-shaped pupils, which allow them to see almost completely behind them and can even switch between frontal and peripheral vision.

Unlike humans, cuttlefish can detect differences in polarized light, which adds an extra dimension to their vision by allowing them to perceive the angle at which light is reflected when it bounces off a surface. In fact, they have sharper polarized vision than any other animal.

 

evade predators
Harassed by dolphins, sharks, large fish, sea lions, and even other cuttlefish, these soft-bodied mollusks have various self-defense tactics. Camouflage helps them go unnoticed and they spend 95 percent of their time hidden. Another defense mechanism involves throwing a cloud of ink as a distraction while the cuttlefish tries to escape, sometimes even mucus with the ink mixed in to create a "Pseudomorph" in the shape of its body as a decoy.

When hunted, cuttlefish adapt their response to the predator: conspicuous and intimidating visual displays to deter those who hunt by sight or simply swim away from those who find prey through other senses. To prevent sharks from detecting electrical currents emitted by prey, cuttlefish minimize these electrical signals by freezing, covering their bodies with their arms, and slowing their breathing.

appearance behavior
During courtship, male cuttlefish put on a dazzling display to attract females, for which rival males will fight viciously. The males pass a sperm packet to the female, who stores sperm from several males in her mouth cavity until she chooses which one to use for fertilization. To maximize the chances of reproductive success, males may inject water into a female's mouth to displace other males' sperm packets before depositing their own.

 

When a female is ready, she finds a safe place to lay and fertilize her eggs, which are called sea grapes because they are laid in clusters and stained black by the mother's ink. Cuttlefish die after breeding, usually around two years.

threats to survival
Most species of cuttlefish are not endangered. However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the Australian giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) as near threatened and notes that ocean acidification caused by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a potential threat to all species. cuttlefish Meanwhile, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) has been declared endangered along Britain's south coast due to overfishing.

 

DID YOU KNOW?
Researchers studying cuttlefish vision persuaded these animals to wear 3D glasses, using live shrimp as an incentive. -National Geographic

Cuttlefish larvae must learn to see and find food while still in the egg shell because their parents leave them to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch. -National Geographic

Like the octopus, the cuttlefish has three hearts and blue blood. — Great Barrier Reef Library

The flamboyant cuttlefish is known not only for its impressive markings, but also for its highly venomous muscle tissue and its ability to "walk" across the ocean floor. — Monterey Bay Aquarium

 

Link: https://www.nationalgeographicla.com/animales/sepia