Cephalopods : Camouflage Geniuses

kelolalaut.com - Cephalopods are members of the mollusca that include squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. They are marine invertebrate, which means doesn’t have vertebrae or backbone structure. Nautilus is the only Cephalopod that have an external shell, some of the Cephalopods have hard internal structure like cuttlefish and squid, meanwhile the octopus is completely losing their hard structure. Cephalopods are considered the most advanced and intelligent mollusks. They have largest brain compare to other invertebrate. Cephalopod can be found in every depth and in every ocean.

Chromatophores are pigment sacks that located on the skin of many Cephalopods, such as squid, octopus and cuttlefish. This organ makes most of the Cephalopod can do camouflage with the surrounding environment. Chromatophores works by expanding or contracting the pigment sacks. Cephalopods not only can change its color but also they can change texture. This ability is helping Cephalopods to blending with their environment either while hunting prey or hiding from predator.

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In general, octopus are expert in camouflage because they can change their color and texture to match their surrounding. Octopus can regrow their arm, as long as they have the remining arm on their body. Cuttlefish use their ability of changing colors to communication and camouflage. They have the largest brain-size to body-size ratio that might have some important roles to do with their complex communication skill.  

Did you know that Cephalopods have a lot of heart? Yes they have three hearts to be exact. The next interesting facts is that their blood is literally blue in color. This color come from evolved copper-based transport system on their blood. Cephalopods are carnivorous, their diet consist of small fish, crustacean, bivalve, jellyfish, and even other Cepalopods. The average life span of cephalopods is 1-3 years, except the Nautilus that can live much longer than its other relatives.

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