Name: Cuttlefish
Scientific Name: Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Family: Sepiidae
Group: Octopuses, cuttlefish, clams, barnacles, sea-snails and sea-slugs
Class: Invertebrates
Size: 26-50 cm.
During the day, the cuttlefish stays buried in sandy bottoms and only becomes active at sunset. Despite its harmless looks it is a shrewd and efficient predator. Thanks to its ability to change colour, it gets near its prey (molluscs, crustaceans and fish) cunningly and without being seen. It then captures them with two tentacles especially modified for this purpose, which are rapidly extended the way toads stick out their tongue. Its strong beak cuts the prey while a paralysing toxin is injected.
During mating season, the males cover themselves with an attractive zebra pattern and modify one of their tentacles in order to insert their sperm inside the female. The latter attaches the clusters of eggs to algae.
Photo by:
Mafalda Frade
Seagrass beds
