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I found a pretty good cuttlefish article with tons of photos. They sound like a neat little wet pet for the experienced SW aquarist. They are reef safe (as far as corals are concerned, not inverts) and don't seem to need large volumes of water, like I thought they did, and they don't try to escape like their other 8 apendaged relatives. They do seem to need extensively clean water, which would be a bit difficult with their eating habits, but would be possible with a good skimmer, maybe a fuge, and regular water changes.

Enjoy

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very cool. You arn't going to breed them are you?

Chris

Of course

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ah, Cuttlefishes.

The bad news is that they require top-class filtration. Nothing less will do. Water for Octopi and related cephalopods (e.g., squid) has to be utterly pristine. So, they're going to be fun creatures to maintain.

The good news, is that once everything is in place to keep them alive, and the filtration system is up to scratch, these animals are ASTONISHING to behold. These are creatures whose eyes are remarkably similar to our own, and whose brains are VERY advanced by invertebrate standards. As part of this, they have a truly uncanny ability to control their appearance - changing colour and shape practically at will. The degree of fine control of this capability puts the Stealth Bomber to shame - a cuttlefish can make itself blend into the background with a level of visual mimicry that requires close and careful examination even by trained human eyes. Until it moves, a Cuttlefish in camouflage mode is effectively invisible. Cuttlefishes can control the pigment cells in their outer integument under direct conscious control - making melanophores and other pigment cells grow or shrink at will - and this control extends down to the individual cellular level. Not only that, but the Cuttlefish can change the apparent texture of its integument to match almost any surface it chooses, for all the world 'shape shifting' like some alien creature from another galaxy. No alien life form this though - Cuttlefishes have been bona fide Earth residents for over 50 million years.

The most remarkable displays are reserved for hunting, though. Once it has encountered a crab, for example, a Cuttlefish will put on a show of shape and colour change that makes it look TRULY alien, more like some kind of 'living spaceship' than a recognisable marine animal, pulsing colours rhythmically along its body (some species also pulse bioluminsecent cells in this fashion for truly astounding effects!) while arranging the tentacles for the strike. The poor crab is presented with a bewildering vision of shifting colours, as the Cuttlefish hovers in readiness to strike, whereupon the two principal capture tentacles are shot out at lightning speed to engulf the prey. To analyse the action requires special high speed photography, it's that quick. What you have here is an animal that combines, in one package, a level of stealth that the military would pay trillions for, submarine capabilities that again are well at the top of every navy's shopping list, and a precision strike capability that invites comparison with an Apache gunship armed with HellFire missiles. One can also factor in the possibility that the outlandish display prior to striking is a form of psychological warfare - designed to stupefy and paralyse its prey before the primary weapon hits home.

They're well worth the effort of keeping if your skills are commensurate with their requirements. Once you see them in action, you will be almost as stunned as their prey!

Oh, they can learn new tricks with ease too. Put a crab in a bottle with a screw top lid, and the Cuttlefish will probably learn to undo the lid pretty quickly.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002