CUTTLEFISH

'Cuddlefish': it may be the last word you'd use to describe one of these bizarre creatures, but get close to a cuttlefish and you might surprised. Move slowly towards one, hand forward, fingers closed and eventually you might get close enough to 'hold hands'. A curious cuttle will sometimes respond by gently probing your fingers with their tentacles. One even sat on my hand once and cuddled me by squeezing it's skirt across my fingers!

Part of the Phylum Mollusca (as are octopus, squid and the nautilus) cuttlefish are in the Class Cephalopoda, but differentiated from other molluscs by their lack of a hard shell. Their bodies are small, hollow chambers that fill up with gas and water. They use these to regulate their buoyancy and can move backwards by forcing water through a siphon near the head - jet propulsion at it’s finest.

Cuttlefish have an advanced central nervous system and a brain of considerable complexity. Their eyes allow them to see us pretty much as we see them. They are masters of disguise with the ability to change skin colour and texture which helps them to stay camouflaged.

Cuttlefish sexes are separate - a mating pair will swim side by side, the male indulging in some courtship behaviour with waving arms. Eventually mating takes place - the male using a modified tentacle to place sperm packets on the inner side of the female's mouth.

The female then places egg after egg into the cracks and crevices of a suitable hiding spot like staghorn coral. The male hovers attentively nearby until she’s finished, but the female does not care for the eggs and will die soon after she lays them.

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