How Do Cuttlefish Work?

feet of arms really encircle their heads. Cephalopods have been around for about five hundred million years, much longer than most other marine life, including fish, and there's some of the smartest animals in the sea. And even in this group of smart animals, the cuttlefish stands out for its intelligence. More than a hundred and twenty species of cuttlefish call

Earth's waters home. They can be found in virtually all oceans, although they do tend to migrate to deep areas during the winter before returning to shallow waters and reefs in spring and summer to mate. They're identified by are eight short arms and two longer tentacles. They also have a hidden weapon. Underneath the cuttle fishes many arms lies a razor sharp beak, much like that of your average parrot.

This tool allows the cuttlefish to gnash on crab, mollusks, and other hard shelled animals, and it's extra effective because it sports a toxin designed to freeze prey in their tracks once bitten. And cuttlefish are masters of camouflage, similar to the chameleon. Cuttlefish can change their color and texture to blend into their surroundings. But that's not the half

of it. Researchers have found that they can freeze their camouflage palette by locking hundreds of tiny structures in their skin in place for up to an hour, all this without consuming any energy from their main nervous system to stay in place. Sort of like an e reader that lasts a long time between charges because it only uses juice when you turn the page, a cuttlefish only expand energy when they change the pattern. This trick allows them to hold their disguise for long periods to avoid being

detected or eaten. It also helps them snatch their prey by allowing them to remain almost invisible as they wait for fish and crustaceans to come by. They also use patterns to communicate with or sometimes trick other cuttlefish in the world of cuttlefish mating. The big, brawny males usually win the female cuttlefish by scaring off smaller males, but every once in a while, a smaller male gets his chance.

He can do this by splitting his colors to show typically female patterns on the side of his body facing a larger male while showing masculine patterns to the female of his choice. Then he sidles up to her and commences mating before the other male has figured it out. However, when the odds are a little more even, cuttlefish aren't afraid to brawl. The scientists so long known that cuttlefish are capable of aggressive behavior, but eleven footage captured this

behavior in the wild rather than in the laboratory. In this footage, a male and female cuttlefish have just finished mating. Another male tries to steal her away. He succeeds at first, but then the first male follows them for a while and finally strikes back. The two males start fighting, flashing, inc biting, and showing other types of angry cuttlefish behavior. This is interesting because it confirms that the aggressive behavior was based on mutual assessment rather than self assessment. When

applying game theory models. In other words, the cuttlefish didn't determine its actions based only on its own strength, but also on considering the capabilities of its sparring partner too. That takes a lot more thought than simply throwing brawn around. Further, this discovery might prove to be a valuable way to learn more about the cognition and aggression of other animals. Also,

cuttlefish can count. Study placed fifty four different farro cuttle fish in a tank along with a transparent, two chambered box. Each side of the box contained a different quantity of shrimp to eat, forcing each cuttle fish to choose the better deal of the two. Researchers changed the shrimp ratio each time, and even played around with larger and dead shrimp to see how those conditions factored into the cuttlefish's

decision making. The researchers found that the creatures had no problem picking larger quantities of shrimp over smaller quantities, but they could also choose the richer shrimp chamber even in cases of narrow ratios, such as for shrimp in one chamber versus five and the other. However, cuttlefish spend about of their time resting. Although this seems like a major about phase for a species that can be so aggressive,

it's actually a smart maneuver. Cuttlefish only live a couple of years at most, but they grow rapidly up to about twenty three pounds or ten and a half kilos, so too much activity means they won't grow to their full potential, hence the seemingly excessive downtime. Outside of appreciating cuttlefish as being fascinating creatures, they're also a popular seafood in many cultures and are prepared similar to squid. A plus, it's cuttle bone, which is an internal structure that helps

it stay buoyant, is full of calcium. These wash up on shore when the mollusk dies or can be harvested from the fishing industry. These cuttle bones are sold to owners of domesticated birds who want to give their pets a treat, and cuttlefish inc which they squirted at predators and competitors, was once used for writing and drawing. In fact, the ink color name Cepia was taken from the cuttlefishes genus Cepia. In its biological name Cepia fish analists. Nowadays,

people mainly use the ink for cooking. It's a key part of some pasta and seafood dishes. If you've ever had a dish or product in the United States labeled squid Inc. Of squid Ink Pasta, perhaps chances are excellent that it was actually made from cuttle fish Inc. Today's episode was written by Alia Hooit and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other inky topics, visit HowStuffWorks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio.

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