
The Cuttlefish, a Master of Camouflage, Reveals a New Trick - dnetesn
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/science/cuttlefish-camouflage-neurons.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
======
z2
Understated here is that cuttlefish manage to match their surrounding's color
while being color-blind, in the sense of lacking color receptors. It's thought
that their pupils have such wild shapes because they can somehow use chromatic
aberration blur patterns to distinguish colors. See
[http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/07/01/1524578113](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/07/01/1524578113)

~~~
VohuMana
I already thought cuttlefish were awesome but reading that they are using
chromatic aberration to distinguish colors blows my mind! Thanks for sharing!

~~~
aaroninsf
TIL cuttlefish not seeing magenta is more interesting than many animals' not
being able to see magenta.

~~~
nradov
Most aquatic animals see longer wavelength colors poorly because water filters
out that light just a few meters deep. Below the surface everything looks
shades of blue or gray.

~~~
aaroninsf
* looks to us :)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_it_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_it_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F)
came to mind

------
tzs
On a nature documentary whose name I don't recall [1], they showed a great
example of a cuttlefish disguising himself.

There was a larger than average male with a harem of females, and there was a
smaller than average male that wanted to mate with the females, but was
nowhere near strong enough to beat the big male in combat.

So the small male took advantage of his small size. He took on the appearance
of a female, and approached the large male as a female would.

The large male was fooled, and accepted the small male into the harem. As the
large male continued vigilantly watching for approaching challengers, the
little male mated with all the harem females right under the big male.

[1] I almost certainly saw it on one of the Nat Geo channels, one of the
Discovery channels, BBC America, or PBS.

Edit: a bit of Googling turned it up. It was in the BBC documentary series
"Life" from 2009. It's this segment:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005bpsl](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005bpsl)

I misremembered a little. The large male only had one female, not a harem,
when the small male joined.

~~~
mistermann
I have it on my machine at home I'm quite sure, will post the name later.

~~~
mistermann
PBS.NOVA.2007.Cuttlefish.Kings.of.Camouflage

------
lobster_johnson
The cuttlefish is my favourite creature to come across while scuba diving.
I've seen them settle down on the seabed next to some vegetation and just
disappear. It turns green and fuzzy, and sends up little tendrils that look
like seagrass and semi-translucent blobs of algae. Even knowing that it's
there, it's usually impossible to see that it's a cuttlefish. YouTube videos
don't do it justice; I've never found any videos that show the level of
camouflage it can do. (The video in the article, though, is amazing in the
level of detail shown.)

~~~
samplatt
The best part is if you remain almost motionless, sometimes their curiosity
overcomes their fear and they come up to check you out. I've been more struck
by intelligence in an animal than with cuttlefish.

------
bitwize
Cuttlefish are amazing -- tiny Cthulhus of the deep, as they drive their prey
mad before devouring it
([https://youtu.be/YcpzubpIhtI](https://youtu.be/YcpzubpIhtI)). Learning more
about their ruthlessly efficient means of camouflage and deception just makes
them more awe-inspiring.

~~~
KhanMahGretsch
Ditto the rest of the cephalopod family, the ingenuity demonstrated by
octopuses is well-documented but endlessly fascinating!

~~~
bitwize
Octopus brains are _substantially_ different from mammalian, reptile, or even
bird brains, having more innervation in its arms than its head, and no need
for a brain-body map like we have -- and yet octopuses not only display
intelligence, but social behavior that's recognizable to us as affection or
hostility. An octopus will nuzzle the hand of a familiar, well-liked human
with its tentacles, or squirt water at a despised human from its tank. If
deep-sea creatures are the closest we've seen to aliens, then the behavior of
octopuses suggests we _may_ be able to establish social common ground with
intelligent extraterrestrials should we ever encounter them.

------
kentosi
Amazing. I knew they could change colour, but to think that they can even
adjust the texture of of their skin to match surrounding coral... consider me
mind-blown.

------
wittedhaddock
Peter Godfrey-Smith also writes about this in Other Minds: The Octopus, the
Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

~~~
er0l
Great read, highly recommend!

------
brlewis
I saw this while riding the train to Boston with my daughter who is a
volunteer educator at New England Aquarium. They have dwarf cuttlefish on
display there now.

------
sofetch
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDwOi7HpHtQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDwOi7HpHtQ)

Here are True Facts about the Cuttlefish

------
minusf
a recent episode of the "in our time" podcast discussed these creatures. and
they are prominent in blue planet 2 as well.

------
furiousjulius
Off topic but cuttlefish bones can be used for casting jewelry/other metal
objects.

~~~
anitil
Interesting. While we're off topic, they're also delicious. Slightly sweeter
than squid and I find less prone to going tough. They take a little bit of
preparation but you get quite a good size meal out of a single one. As a bonus
they grow quickly so are a fairly low impact species to take.

~~~
megy
Yeah, I can't eat anything that smart, like this or an octopus.

~~~
skc
Is it smart though? As in, is it actually thinking or is it simply acting on
impulse/reflex/instinct?

------
reimertz
I think it's valid to point out that this reaction was caused by cutting one
of it's nerves that controlled skin color.

