Modern inquiry publish in theJournal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecologyhas outed the “ flamboyant ” cuttlefish , Metasepia pfefferi , as the plain Jane it really is . famed for their shiny color and exhibitionist behavior , it seems these transformative cephalopods actually spend almost all of their time blending into their rather flavourless , sandy environment . As the researchers on the bailiwick soon discovered , their disguise is so adept it actually make finding them incredibly unmanageable .
The showy flamboyant cuttle is among the most popular of the cephalopod mollusk , a group that is also home to octopus and calamary . They have one of the mostelaborate wooing displaysof the class , which Roger Hanlon of the Marine Biological Laboratory , Chicago , position out to Indonesia to study . Armed with a team of voluntary , Hanlon and colleagues record hours of footage from SCUBA dives .
male are the modest of the two sexes and will put on quite a show when trying to attract a mate , frolic bright people of color and performing detailed ritual , let in " wafture " and " kisses " where they briefly touch tentacle with the female . While the male heartily puts the “ splashy ” in “ flamboyant cuttle ” , the distaff hangs back , persist camouflaged and motionless . As it turns out , this is a more representative exhibit of how these brute spend most of their prison term .
" This animal is well known in the Internet community , has been on TV many times , and is popular in public marine museum , " Hanlon tell in astatement . " In almost all cases , [ its skin ] is show this brilliantly coloured aureate display .
" It turns out in nature , showy cuttle are camouflaged nearly all of the time . They are nearly impossible to line up … The splashy presentation is unwashed when a plunger approaches close enough to shoot , which is why the populace may think this species always looks so coloured , but it is rare to see this species in flamboyant display in the wild . "
The discovery , however , should n’t detract from the cuttlefishes ’ majesty as when they put on a show , boy do they go for it . consider camouflage is the primary mode of defense for these animals , it ’s graspable to opt for use over mode when your biography is literally on the line . With such high stakes , it ’s full to only get dolled up for very special occasions .
