Flamboyant cuttlefish

Scientific name : Metasepia pfefferi

Beautiful and poorly known cuttlefish. The background colour is brown, but it can show flamboyant displays with white, yellow, red blotches that seem to move along the body and tentacles. High skin flaps. Body 8 cm. Normally encountered in bay and lagoon. Active during the day, it moves along looking for crustaceans. Often it walks, using the external tentacles and 2 skin flaps under the belly, like primitive legs. The rapid colour changes can be used to stun the prey or to confound the predator, or can be warning of a possible toxic nature. A very similar species (Metasepia tullbergi) lives between Hong-Kong and Japan. Easy to identify from other cuttlefishes by the colour. Also the diamond shape of the cuttlebone is a good diagnostic.

Associated organisms
Unknown. When living close to human villages, often the females lays its eggs underneath a coconut shell.

Metasepia pfefferi Author MASSIMO BOYER Place: Indonesia, Lembeh strait Id: 1