The Wonders of Nature
Cuttlefish!I was at my Mom’s yesterday, eating her groceries, when my eye happened to fall upon the white bone tied inside the wire of her parakeet cage. The Cuttlebone, as it is called, is not for the birds to snuggle up against. It is for beak sharpening, and an extra helping of calcium.
Cuttlefish are actually much more closely related to garden slugs and snails than they are to fish. They are cephalopods, like octopuses and squid and nautilus. (So you wouldn’t want to cuddle with them anyway.)
The cuttlefish is incredibly technologically advanced. While they have not yet been spotted with the new iPhone, they do have 8 arms, 3 hearts, 2 feeding tentacles, and the ability to change color and texture of skin within seconds. Then there’s that fancy gas-filled bone which gives them buoyancy. That is, of course, until it’s hung in a birdcage.
If you’ve ever been experimenting with color tone on your camera, perhaps you recall the dark-brownish option called “sepia.” Sepia is actually the scientific name for a cuttlefish and the ink that is derived from it; when the cuttlefish isn’t in the mood the play hide and seek, it will just squirt you in the mouth with this nasty stuff. But when the hungry cuttlefish spots a crab or fish, it approaches steadily using its camouflage and sneaks up on its prey. When it gets close enough, the 8 arms open wide and out shoot the deceptively long feeding tentacles. On the end of each is a pad covered in suckers that grasp hold of the breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and quickly pull it close to the cuttlefish's mouth that looks like a parrot's beak (ironically enough).
In addition to colors, cuttlefish come in many sizes. The smallest are about an inch long, and the largest are roughly the size of Danny DeVito.
Recent studies indicate that cuttlefish are among the most intelligent invertebrates; after all, they have one of the largest brain-to-body size ratios. And many people would like to keep cuttlefish as pets. This is quite easy in the UK and Europe as some species of cuttlefish are found there. In the USA however, there are no naturally found candidates. This never stops Americans, however, and the most commonly imported species is from Bali… but it arrives in poor condition, tiny and travel-weary, and quickly kicks the bucket.
Just another example of the marvelous designs Mother Nature has hatched (and which no human being can rival.)
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