Australian giant cuttlefish, is the world’s largest cuttlefish species, growing to 50 cm in mantle length and over 10.5 kg or 23 lb in weight, they use special cells in their body to change their colour in an instant. They use these colours for protection when they wish to hide and the males use these different colours to attract a female, they can form beautiful coloured patterns of just about every colour of the rainbow.
An Australian Giant Cuttlefish (Sepia apama). Fairy Bower, Manly, NSW (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
They have a very short life span of 2 to 3 years. Because of their short life span, the cuttlefish reach maturity in around eight months. Their diet consists of fish, crabs and shrimp.
Giant Cuttlefish at Shelly Beach, NSW (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The cuttlefish has eight tentacles, two have sucker-pads, and before catching their prey they usually change colour to hide, then they use their long tentacles, once the prey is caught the cuttlefish then brings the prey to its mouth, the cuttlefish have a very strong sharp beak which they use to break the shells if they have caught such things as crabs. When not catching prey, their tentacles are retracted.
Learn more about cuttlefish at BBC Nature.
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Very cool – in the clip it almost looks like it’s hovering along the bottom on “fringe.”
Hi Laurie,
Yes they do, it sort of makes them look a bit elegant in a way. 🙂
Those color changes are so dramatic!
Hi Naomi,
It is unreal to see them changing colour in a blink of an eye, with different patterns as well.
Interesting! It’s just amazing how they turn color like that! How in the world do they do it? They looks so intelligent too. Amazing! 🙂
Hi Linda,
They have a certain cell that produces these colours, this is how it is done so quickly, it is amazing to watch.
Footnote:
For some reason your comment went into spam, so if you don’t see your comment appearing on some blogs this is the reason. Obviously WP is having a few hickups, nothing unusual in that lately.
I think octopi can do the same thing. And those are some smart cells!
That’s weird that my comment went into spam! How weird. Is wordpress acting up weirdly for you. It’s doing all kinds of weird things for me. It’s typing over the same line — just weird stuff like that . . . hope it’s not my computer! YIkES!
A lot of strange thing are happening, so I don’t think it’s your computer. There are a few others ending up in spam as well so you are not alone.
As far as the typing goes this sounds a bit like a browser issue. Try clearing your browser cookies etc, go off the net and then click back on and see if that helps.
Oh, that’s good to know. and thank you for that info. I will do that. Gosh I hope it helps. It’s so hard to get anything done with my computer so slow! 🙂
If you can let me know if it works for you, if not if you can tell me the browser you are using, we may try something else.
Well, I’m happy to report that cleaning the cookie cache helped alot, but I wonder if this comment will end up in spam? Can you let me know? Thanks Mags for your help!
I am happy to hear that cleaning out of the cookies done the trick. But your comments are still going to spam, this is a WP problem, as I said you are not the only one it is happening too. Hopefully WP will sort this out, browsers are easy to fix, but WP is a different story. 🙂
Darn it! I’ll check around and see if there’s anything that can be done! Gosh that’s maddening! Hopefully it will be fixed soon. 🙂
As usual, nice one. 🙂
Hi Doraz,
Thank You, glad you liked the post. 😀
What weird fish! Love it!
Hi susielindau,
They are a bit weird, but pretty in their own way. 🙂
Footnote:
Your comment went into the spam box, this is happening to a few people, so if you find your comment doesn’t appear on some blogs, that is why.
I know. It is such a nightmare. If you see my avatar and no comment, check for spam! Thanks! This will help to resolve it. It teaches Askimet that we are not spammers..
Unfortunately this is happening to a few bloggers, lets hope that Askimet picks this up rather quickly.
Fascinating fish … so full of colours 🙂 Didn’t even have an idea they existed..Very nice post..
Hi reb,
Cuttlefish are a bit strange looking but they are fascinating to watch. 🙂
I had no idea they changed colors. Wow. You always bring the most fascinating facts to us.
Hi writingfeemail,
I think all the different species of cuttlefish change colour, it is just a lot more noticeable in these ones because of their size. 🙂
Life at sea is fascinating.Is another world inside this one.
Lovely!
Hi Lynn,
That is so true, it is another world with the most amazing creatures. 🙂
Hi Mags,
Great post. It made me laugh when I read that, “Males use these different colours to attract a female”. Lucky creatures! 🙂
Hi Arindam,
Oh yes, it is a lot easier for these cuttlefish to attract a female, the prettier the colour the easier it is. 😆
Oh My God, like a science fiction… I haven’t seen this amazing fish before… WOW! Thank you dear Mags, Love, nia
Hi Nia,
It does look a bit like something out of a science fiction movie. 😀
Glad you enjoyed the post.
I like the way he changes colour even to the extent that he would look like a rock resting on the seabed :-).
Hi Windsmoke,
Yes they have a wonderful ability to hide from predators. 🙂
I want to be able to change colour like that… 🙂
Hi This Sydney Life,
It would be fun to be able to do something like that. 😀
Sea animals are very fascinating! I would love to swim in a nice coral reef someday and observe the fish swimming around 🙂
Hi Any Lucky Penny,
Coral reefs are beautiful, there are just so many different types of fish that live around the reefs, and so many colours as well. 🙂
That is crazy how fast they change. Kind of an ugly thing otherwise.
Hi John,
They don’t muck around do they when they want to change colour, they are a strange looking creature. 😀
Wow! That is absolutely incredible! For me, cuttlefish were just dried up white things hanging in bird cages. I never knew that they were like that.
Fairy Bower! I used to go there sometimes when I was a teenager. I didn’t like the sand very much because it was a lot coarser than the sand at North Steyne (which is Manly too) where I usually went to the beach. Fairy Bower was in a little protected bay which was why the sand was so coarse as the waves didn’t pound all the broken shells into fine sand. It was sheltered from the wind too so was a good place to go when the weather was cooler.
Did you know that Manly was named after the “manly” appearance of the Aboriginal People who lived there? Can’t remember who named it now. But it was very early on, around Captain Phillip’s time, I think. Might even have been he who named it.
Hi Lady Marilyn,
Yes they are certainly different. There are over 100 different species of cuttlefish, not that much difference in the species, except for this one, only because of its size.
I haven’t been for Fairy Bower for a long, long time, no doubt it would look a bit different than when I remembered being there.
No I didn’t know that about Manly, very interesting.
Love the fact that the camera was able to catch it changing color. Also interesting how it sounds like a person breathing in scuba gear. 😉
Hi Frank,
I also thought it was a great video, it was definitely the best video that actually showed the changing colours. There was another video I was also going to put up as well that I thought would go well with this one, even though embedding was allowed, when you clicked on the video in the blog, it just showed up blank which was a shame it also was a bit different.
If you would like to have a look at the video it only goes for 34 seconds.
Giant Cuttlefish Attack
Interesting … attack of the man-eating cuttlefish!
I thought so as well, I was so disappointed when it wouldn’t play on the blog, glad you liked it. 🙂
These are so amazing. My oldest got a beautiful picture of a cuttlefish when he went scuba diving in Indonesia last summer, right when the fish turned bluish pink. They are amazing.
Hi allthingsboys,
How good is that, he must of been thrilled to get a shot of fish after it changed colour, well done. 😀
And nice post!
Thank You. 🙂
First time I have seen a video clip on our Cuttlefish
Great informative blog and clip
Aussie Ian
Hi Aussie Ian,
Yes it is a very good video, captured the colours beautifully I thought.
I am glad you found the post interesting. 🙂
Amazing colour changing/camoflage.
Hi gitwizard,
It certainly is an amazing fish. 🙂
That is so cool! Definitely designed by nature! I have never seen anything quite like it. Amazing how fast it changes colors!
Hi Michael,
Oh yes nature at her best. 🙂 The colour changing is amazing, it is magnificent to see.
It is enormous. Imagine if we could change colours like that – you would never have to worry about your shoes not matching your outfit. Very cool!
Hi Selma,
It would be perfect wouldn’t it. 😀
What an incredibly cool fish! I loved watching him change colours as he swam around. It’s also very relaxing to watch an underwater scene like this. 🙂
Hi Joanne,
I also love underwater filming, so many amazing animals in different parts of the world. 😀
That fish changes color like I change my hair color. Sometimes I get the same hues, too. Fun post.
Hi Barb,
If only it was that easy to change the colour of our hair. 😀
I didn’t know cuttlefish could change their colour. That’s really interesting. I’ve seen cuttlefish thingies in bird cages that they use to sharpen their beaks. xx
Hi hotlyspiced,
Yes, and such pretty colours as well. 😀
So cool Mags. Thanks!
Hi Elyse,
It certainly is. 😀
They are such extraordinary creatures, quite beautiful in their own way. Scientists still know very little about octopi and cuttlefish, these creatures may well be very intelligent. WordPress is also doing strange things to me – my blogs were linked with Facebook so each blogpost should go automatically through to FB – now WP has stopped this, but the upside is that I’m no longer bombarded with spam mail via Facebook:)
Hi mariathermann,
They certainly are. 🙂
There are a lot of changes going on at the moment with WP it is maddening as they are doing whatever it is they are doing.
A colorful predator – an underwater chameleon!
Hi Barbara,
Yes is it an underwater chameleon. 🙂
Wow! I am constantly amazed by this planet (thanks to all of your posts!) That is so cool how it change colors like that. It’s how you’d imagine an alien being.
Hi lolabees,
It does look a bit like some sort of alien, it is a strange looking creature. 😀
Another underwater resident who’s good with colours.
Wow, that is pretty cool too!
Hi Greg,
A Fantastic video, just amazing. 😀
@ Michael,
I totally agree. 🙂
..and when you piss them off they go RED and have at you… (when you accidentally hook one on a fishing line) The largest breeding colony in the world is just a few KM from here and I’m sorry to say the SANTOS petrochemical plant has possibly poisoned them off with 10 years of oil leaks. In a bid to finish the job BHP is trying to force us to allow a loading zone right in the middle of the breeding zone. Our government has folded to the pressure and looks like allowing the big companies to continue polluting despite the public outcry.
Hi tempo,
Yes I actually read something about that in the papers awhile ago. I think there were some photos of protesters out there if I remember correctly, I went looking for the article I read but couldn’t find the one with the picture in it. We can only hope the worst does not happen.
That was really cool amazing. I nocticed that at times it would really bend in, great find. :+)
Hi starlaschat,
I think they are amazing to watch, they are just a totally different type of creature. 🙂
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