If camouflage doesn’t work and it is spotted by a predator, a cuttlefish can squirt out a cloud of brown ink to help it hide. Cuttlefish can use this camouflage to sneak up on their prey, which consists mostly of crabs and fish. The cuttlefish’s ability to quickly change color also helps it avoid being hunted by predators. If that isn’t strange enough, their blood is greenish blue.Ĭuttlefish have an amazing ability to quickly change the color, pattern, and texture of their skin. And if they keep eating, they keep growing. The arms and tentacles have suckers for grabbing prey. Female cuttlefish have only six arms and two tentacles. Male cuttlefish have eight arms and two tentacles. In any event, the cephalopod class includes octopuses (octopi is not the correct plural), squid (both singular and plural), cuttlefish (again, both singular and plural), and nautiluses.ĭespite the name, cuttlefish aren’t even fish, they’re molluscs. Teuthology? That sounds like a dentistry subspecialty. The study of cephalopods is a branch of malacology known as teuthology.” Fishermen sometimes call them inkfish, referring to their common ability to squirt ink. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles (muscular hydrostats) modified from the primitive molluscan foot. “A cephalopod (pronounced /ˈsɛfələˌpɒd/) is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural κεφαλόποδα, kephalópoda “head-feet”). What exactly is a cephalopod? Wikipedia explains, But, since my new fractured fairy tale picture book, LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH from Pelican Publishing, features cuttlefish, and since cuttlefish are a type of cephalopod, well, here we are.įirst things first. “Children’s fiction featuring cephalopods” is not a phraseI ever imagined myself uttering.
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