Did you know that the cuttlebone used to supply pet birds with calcium comes from a color changing, shape shifting, eight armed squid like animal with amazing camouflage and a parrot like beak? It’s true. The cuttlebone is what gives these unusual animals their name. Learn more with these fun facts about Cuttlefish.
Fun Facts About Cuttlefish : What do Cuttlefish have in common with Horseshoe Crabs?
Just as the horseshoe crab is not really a crab, the cuttlefish is not a fish. The cuttlefish is a cephalopod. This creature is related to aquatic animals like the octopus, squid, the extinct ammonite, and the Nautilus, a living fossil which still retains the shell. Like blue blooded horseshoe crabs, cuttlefish have unusually colored blue green blood. The blood is pumped by three hearts.
Fun Facts About Cuttlefish : What types of movement are Cuttlefish capable of?
Cuttlefish can swim through water, hover in place, or walk along the sea floor. The cuttlebone of these invertebrates helps them float. Like squids, these cephalopods have ten appendages: eight arms plus two tentacles.
Cuttlefish can capture crabs with a rapid movement of the tentacles. Their soft body and eight arms can grip a hard shelled crab and manipulate it well enough to eat it and avoid losing an arm to the crab’s pinching claws. All this can be done while using undulating movements of body surrounding fins to swim.
Fun Facts About Cuttlefish : What gives Cuttlefish their amazing camouflage?
Pigment cells called chromatophores enable cuttlefish to change color in hypnotic waves that look like flashing lights. These animals can also change their skin texture or shape giving them excellent camouflage. These shape shifting undersea creatures can also mimic surroundings through behavior and movement, such as extending their arms and imitating the swaying movements of aquatic plants.
Fun Facts About Cuttlefish : What scientific discoveries have been made about Cuttlefish?
Don’t underestimate this mollusc. Cuttlefish have sideways squiggly crescent like eyes but excellent vision. This invertebrate demonstrates intelligence and can learn to swim through mazes, like the octopus.
The Giant Cuttlefish can be three feet long, while the Flamboyant Cuttlefish is only a few inches as an adult. Like the Pajama Squid and Blue Ringed Octopus, the colorful, tiny, Flamboyant Cuttlefish is another species of cephalopod that is poisonous.
Cuttlefish have been discovered in ocean waters along the coast of many places. So far none have been found along American coasts. Due to excellent camouflage, there may still be new species of cuttlefish to be discovered.
Not so Fun Facts About Cuttlefish : What ends the life cycle of Cuttlefish and what are Cuttlefish predators?
Cuttlefish don’t live long after mating and laying their eggs. The cuttlebone that comes from this animal can sometimes be found washed up on the shore of beaches. Cuttlefish are eaten by many animals, including dolphins, birds, and humans. Do you eat calamari?
What gives cuttlefish their name? What do cuttlefish have in common with horseshoe crabs? What types of movement are cuttlefish capable of? What gives cuttlefish their amazing camouflage? What scientific discoveries have been made about cuttlefish? What ends the lifecycle of the cuttlefish? What are cuttlefish predators? With these fun facts about cuttlefish, now you know.
Sources:
NOVA : Kings of Camouflage
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/camo/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish
