Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Unscrutable Cuttlefish

Recently Robert Krulwich, a 35+ year veteran of NPR, did a brief expose on the cuttlefish's camouflaging capabilities. The cuttlefish, a relative of squids and octopi, is a magnificent example of evolution. Now regarded as one of the most intelligent invertebrates, cuttlefish are amazing interpreters of their environment. They have large eyes which can detect polarized light, alter their focus independently, and, due to the position of the optic nerve, have no blind spot. Their skin contains upwards of 20,000,000 pigments, allowing them to alter their skin color and pattering at will. They mostly lack of bones allows for plastic movement and shape conformation.

Mr. Krulwich interest in the cuttlefish's camouflaging focused on how extensive it is. In his time watching these creatures and experimenting with them (with a trained expert) he found that they were quick and flexible in fitting in to common environments, and were apt to fit into environments they, or anything else for that matter, would never see. Vertical, horizontal, and even angled black and white lines were no match for the cuttlefish's capabilities.

By following the article link below you can observe these amazing creatures completely blending into their native environments, uncommon environments, and even altering based on the dappling of sunlight underwater.

By Joseph Needleman

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4 comments:

  1. Peter HoulihanOctober 19, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    It is amazing that cuttlefish are capable of blending into any backdrop- this is an excellent example of adaptation at its best. I wonder if this camouflaging skill is something that young cuttlefish are born with (innate) or if it is something they must learn from their parents or perfect over time (plastic). Also, I wonder what the various uses of this skill are: obviously for self-protection and hunting, but I wonder if it has any application in cuttlefish mating/courting behaviors.

    posted by Johanna Brophy

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  2. Peter HoulihanOctober 20, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    Hi Joseph,

    These cuttlefish are so cool. I wonder where they got this advantage from? Like what caused the cuttlefish to evolve that it can almost camouflage into anything. Was everything attacking it was it needed to blend into anything that was possible?

    Posted by Whitney Huynh

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  3. Peter HoulihanOctober 20, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    Of all the species in the ocean, it is interesting that these cuttlefish developed some of the most sophisticated camouflaging abilities. I wonder what the evolutionary cause of this development is – perhaps they have a lot of predators? You mentioned how these cuttlefish have over 20 million pigments in their bodies but how is it that these cuttlefish are able to change from one color to another so quickly? I wonder how the control mechanisms for this works and understanding it would certainly open up possibilities for us.

    Posted by James Lin

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  4. Peter HoulihanOctober 23, 2011 at 1:43 PM

    Johanna,
    That's an interesting point, bringing up ontogenetic ritualization. It would be interesting to see if indeed colour change is used for breeding purposes. That points to how far back in evolution that form of communication is.

    -Joey

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