We came across a number of flamboyant cuttlefish in the sand along the bottom of the Lembeh Strait. The flamboyant cuttlefish ("Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish," <em>Metasepia pfefferi</em>) is so named for the bright coloration it may adopt when approached. This is a very small beastie; the ones we saw were between two and four inches (say, about 5 to 10 cm) long, including tentacles. Normally its coloration is very drab -- dull shades of brown, looking like...
more »We came across a number of flamboyant cuttlefish in the sand along the bottom of the Lembeh Strait. The flamboyant cuttlefish ("Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish," <em>Metasepia pfefferi</em>) is so named for the bright coloration it may adopt when approached. This is a very small beastie; the ones we saw were between two and four inches (say, about 5 to 10 cm) long, including tentacles. Normally its coloration is very drab -- dull shades of brown, looking like a rock on the sandy bottom where it lives, "walking" around the bottom using its lower arms (tentacles). But it adopts bright, almost pulsating shades of red, purple, and pink with that distinctive yellow border when disturbed (for instance, by a hulking diver shoving a large camera lens into its "face"). Like most creatures that may adopt vibrant coloration when disturbed, the bright color is a warning; the flesh of the flamboyant cuttlefish is highly toxic.
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