查找标志性的华丽墨鱼的任何图片(Metasepia pfefferi) and you’re sure to see it’s flashing bright purple and yellow hues. However, a recent study proves their colorful patterns are only a display, and they spend most of their time looking brown and bland, preferring to blend in with the sand.
“These animals have superb camouflage,” says Roger Hanlon, a marine biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. Specialized cells and structures in their skin allow the animals to instantly morph into ostentatious patterns, as well as blend in.
Last year Dr. Roger Hanlon visited the Lembeh Resort inNorth Sulawesi, to see how these animals balanced flamboyance with camo in nature. Video footage collected by the team reveals details of the species’ mating practices and defensive behaviors as well as what the animals do in their downtime.
Hanlon和Gwendolyn McManus描述了八月的结果Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.
孤独物种沿着海底慢慢清醒,在珊瑚礁之间的泥块和沙子的单调区域中觅食。“这就像一个Moonscape或沙漠,”韩龙说。Flamboyant墨鱼采取他们泥泞的海底背景的颜色和纹理,化妆舞蹈作为沙子或岩石的一块。
Like some other cephalopods, these cuttlefish spend most of their time incognito, reserving their displays for special occasions: confusing a predator, courting a mate and sparring with rival suitors.
Males also show flamboyant displays to attract the ladies. After spotting a female in the distance, a male will flaunt bright colors and undulate their mantle stripes in a move called “the passing cloud.”
研究人员还观察到这两种典型的常规期间的手势:手臂挥手(让人鞠躬)和接吻(用他的手臂敲击女性的手臂)。“这些显示器真的详细阐述和动态,”韩龙说。“它们与一些最复杂的鸟类甚至一些灵长类动物相媲美。”
The field observations fill in knowledge gaps about how these animals survive in the wild and contradict two previous studies ina lab和一个水族馆, as well as photos and videos from scuba divers, that suggested that the animals displayed their flamboyant patterns more frequently. Scuba divers with bright lights and higher density tanks may have shifted the behavior of a species that spends most of its time alone and under the radar.[Science News]