This is the start of a number of pages of cuttlefish pictures:
if you wish to, you can skip straight to the cuttlefish movies


After my last octopus died, I decided to try cuttlefish. With an average
life span of 18 months, and given that the average specimen arrives at an
age of 9 months, death of either species in under a year is not unusual.
I found someone who would provide baby cuttlefish, purchased three, and
put them in the old octopus tank.

My octopuses inked on occasion, but very rarely. The one thing that
became obvious about the cuttlefish was that they inked frequently, and
for no obvious reason. I spent quite a few days staying away from the
tank until the ink cleared.

Another difference is that while the octopus has essentially no bones in
its body, and can squeeze into tiny crevices in the rocks, the cuttlefish
has a "cuttle bone" which forces it to stay out in the open. The
cuttlefish handle this exposure with camouflage skin (similar to the
octopus) and burying itself in the sand/substrate to hide. Here are two
buried half way in the sand.



These two are almost entirely buried: you would not notice them unless
you knew they were there, and were looking for them.



These shrimp are walking right over the cuttlefish that may eat them in a
moment. The only clue are their eyes, poking out of the sand. Can you
find the eye? Look at the short strand of macro algae at the bottom of
the picture, and look off the left end.



Here are two cuttlefish eyes so you can see them more clearly.



They can also change color, just like the octopus: here one has turned a
darker brown:



This cuttlefish is facing away from the camera, to the right. You can
see the "s" shaped eye slit towards the right, along with some of the
arms pointing away from the camera. The body is large and bulbous, with
a mottled back, a cream colored belly, and a transparent "skirt" fin with
tiny white dots.



Here is another one, dark brown, with three of its arms pointing away
from the mouth.



More Cuttlefish Pictures!