University of Bristol via https://www.newscientist.com/article/2467711-watch-a-cuttlefish-transform-into-a-leaf-and-a-coral-to-hunt-its-prey/

Dear Readers, I am forever amazed by the adaptability and intelligence of cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish and octopi) – in the past year we’ve had stories about octopi hunting in collaboration with fish (and walloping any freeloaders) for example. However, these cuttlefish use their extraordinary colouration, and ability to change shape and colour, to mimic leaves or coral. They also use a pulsing pattern of stripes, which may ‘hypnotise’ prey, or act as a kind of ‘dazzle camouflage’. You can see them in action in the video below:

https://youtu.be/BTNfDMYb5Qg

Scientists are still unsure how the cuttlefish decide which tactic to use: some cephalopods seem to change their colouration and shape according to which prey they’re hunting, but it may also be a way of avoiding predation themselves, as your average cuttlefish makes for a very tasty morsel. But at the moment, we don’t know, and I suspect that there might be a lot of variation between individual cuttlefish too. This particular species, the Broadclub Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) lives on and around Pacific coral reefs and mangroves, and the youngsters mimic mangrove leaves. The photos below give an idea of the range of colours that this species can achieve: these are both the same individual, with the pictures taken only a few minutes apart.  What astonishing animals cuttlefish are! And to think that previously I only knew them from the chalky-white object in my budgerigar’s cage.

You can read the research paper here.

Broadclub Cuttlefish (Photo by By Nhobgood Nick Hobgood – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6261651)

By Nhobgood Nick Hobgood – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6261651