Cephalopods
Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Metasepia pfefferi · Cephalopod mollusk — family Sepiidae; a dwarf cuttlefish with a reduced internal cuttlebone
A flamboyant cuttlefish crossing a black-sand flat looks like a wind-up toy in ceremonial dress — a fist-sized animal ambling on two arm tips and skin flaps because its reduced internal cuttlebone barely floats it, pulsing waves of maroon, yellow, and white down its body as it goes. The pageant reads as warning coloration: laboratory work has reported significant toxins in its muscle, a rarity among cuttlefish, and the animal behaves like something with nothing to prove, hunting tiny shrimp and fish in open daylight with a deliberate tongue-flick strike of its feeding tentacles. At rest it fades to mud brown and simply disappears against the silt. Females glue eggs under coconut shells and rubble, and hatchlings emerge as perfect miniatures already flashing the family colors. It is a muck signature — ask the guides which slope has been producing.
Waar en wanneer je er een kunt zien
"Resident" betekent dat je ze bij de meeste duiken op die bestemming tegenkomt; "seizoensgebonden" betekent betrouwbaar aanwezig in de vermelde maanden; al het andere is een bonus, geen garantie.
| Bestemming | Betrouwbaarheid | Maanden | Notities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lembeh StraitIndonesia | Occasional | Het hele jaar door | |
| AnilaoPhilippines | Occasional | Het hele jaar door | |
| Banda Sea & AmbonIndonesia | Occasional | Het hele jaar door | |
| Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines | Occasional | Het hele jaar door | |
| Milne BayPapua New Guinea | Occasional | Het hele jaar door |
Beste maand, in één oogopslag
Ze begrijpen
Habitat: Open sand, silt, and mud flats of sheltered bays and muck slopes, usually walking rather than swimming.
Verspreidingsgebied: Indo-Malayan region and northern Australia — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and New Guinea.
Gedrag: Ambles across the bottom on two arm tips and skin flaps, pulsing waves of maroon, yellow, and white when hunting or alarmed; fades to mud brown at rest and vanishes.
Dieet: Small shrimp and fishes taken with a slow-motion stalk and a lightning strike of the feeding tentacles.
Grootte: doorgaans rond 0.06 m; gedocumenteerd tot 0.08 m (mantle length).
Hoe je je ertegenover gedraagt
Stay low and behind its line of travel, keep strobes reasonable, and never lift shells or coconut halves — females glue eggs beneath exactly that kind of cover.
Behoud
Formally Data Deficient; a bottom-bound lifestyle on developable coastal seabeds is its main exposure.
Gekende duiksites waar je ze tegenkomt
Bekijk
Via de officiële kanalen
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Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
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