You can use me by typing : iconnewcuttlefishplz : but removing the spaces :>


You can use my best friend by typing : iconcuttlefish2plz :but removing the spaces :>






I am a marine animal of the order Sepiida belonging to the Cephalopoda class (which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses). Despite my name, I am not a fish but a mollusk. Recent studies indicate that I am among the most intelligent invertebrate species.
I have an internal shell (cuttle bone), large W-shaped pupils, and eight arms and two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers, with which I secure my prey.

I love to eat small mollusks, crabs, shrimp, fish and..... other cuttlefish. My predators include dolphins, sharks, fish, seals and other cuttlefish. My life expectancy is about one to two years.

I possess an internal structure called the cuttle bone, which is porous and composed of calcium carbonate, to provide me with buoyancy. My buoyancy can be regulated by changing the gas-to-liquid ratio in my chambered cuttle bone. Each one of my species has a distinct shape, size, and pattern of ridges or texture on their cuttle bone. My cuttle bone is unique to me, one of the features contrasting me with my squid relatives. Cuttle bones are traditionally used by jewelers and silversmiths as molds for casting small objects. They are probably better known today as the tough material given to parakeets and other caged birds and snails as a source of dietary calcium.

I am sometimes referred to as the chameleon of the sea because of my remarkable ability to rapidly alter my skin color at will. My skin flashes a fast-changing pattern as communication to my friends and to camouflage me from predators. This color-changing function is produced by groups of red, yellow, brown, and black pigmented chromatophores above a layer of reflective iridophores and leucophores, with up to 200 of these specialized pigment cells per square millimeter. The pigmented chromatophores have a sac of pigment and a large membrane that is folded when retracted. There are 6-20 small muscle cells on the sides which can contract to squash the elastic sac into a disc against my skin. Yellow chromatophores (xanthophores) are closest to the surface of my skin, red and orange are below (erythrophores), and brown or black are just above my iridophore layer (melanophores). The iridophores reflect blue and green light. Iridophores are plates of chitin or protein, which can reflect the environment around me. They are responsible for the metallic blues, greens, golds, and silvers I often display. All of these cells can be used in combination. For example, orange is produced by red and yellow chromatophores, while purple can be created by a red chromatophore and an iridophore. I can also use an iridophore and a yellow chromatophore to produce a brighter green. As well as being able to influence the color of the light that reflects off my skin, I can also affect the light's polarization, which can be used to signal to other marine animals, many of which can also sense polarization.

My eyes are among the most developed in the animal kingdom. The organogenesis of my eyes differs fundamentally from yours. Superficial similarities between my eyes and your eyes are thought to be examples of convergent evolution. My pupil is a smoothly-curving W shape. Although I cannot see color, I can perceive the polarization of light, which enhances my perception of contrast. I have two spots of concentrated sensor cells on my retina (known as fovea), one so i can look more forward, and one so i can look more backwards. My lenses, instead of being reshaped as yours are, are pulled around by reshaping my entire eye in order to allow me to change focus.
Human scientists have speculated that my eyes are fully developed before birth and I start observing my surroundings while I am still in my egg. One team of French human researchers have additionally suggested that I prefer to hunt prey I saw before I hatched.

My blood is an unusual shade of green-blue because it uses the copper-containing protein hemocyanin to carry oxygen instead of the red iron-containing protein hemoglobin that is found in you. The blood is pumped by three separate hearts, two of which are used for pumping blood to my pair of gills (one heart for each gill), and the third is used for pumping blood around the rest of my body. My heart must pump a higher blood flow than most other animals because hemocyanin is substantially less capable of carrying oxygen than hemoglobin.

Recently it has been discovered that my cousin Pfeffer's Flamboyant muscles contain a highly toxic compound that is yet to be identified. Research by Mark Norman with the Museum Victoria in Queensland, Australia, has shown the toxin to be as lethal as that of a fellow cephalopod, the Blue-ringed octopus.

I have ink, like squid and octopuses. My ink was formerly an important dye used by you humans, called sepia. Today, thank goodness, artificial dyes have replaced natural sepia. However, there is a modern resurgence of Jewish humans using my ink for the techelet dye on their Tallit strings.