Flamboyant Cuttlefish

Hi,

I was taking picture of Flamboyant Cuttlefish in Anilao, Phillipines last week & It was unusually fat. Next minute, it start deliver, I think, a egg.

Can you confirm it is egg ?

Sam

Flambuoyant cuttles (M. pfefferi I think is the spelling) have small black eggs. They are smaller than a "gumdrop" and similarly shaped.

Good catch, I would love to see one of these babies!!!

Cheers

James

I think you may be right, Sam. Here's a photo of some flambouyant eggs from Lembeh (KBR house reef):

They looked approximately the same size as the round mass that is still in your cuttle's tentacles.

James, I hadn't heard that they were black. All the ones I have seen have been this milky translucent color.

Dr. James Wood told me they are black - but who knows.

Cheers

James

They start out black & teardrop shaped. As they age the shape changes to round which helps wedge them in place and turn translucent.

Wow....Thanks a lot !!

Fabulous photos and great info, but what's this squid doing on Sam's photo ? Really producing an egg ? Then it becomes round after that ? Or is he eating something.

Speaking about squid eggs, yesterday, at the end of the dive we found big mass of squid eggs in the shallows (like 6 m only). My crew started collecting them: it's a delicacy in the Philippines. Ever heard about this ?

Interesting, I'll have to look for black gumdrops now!

But I too am now wondering what this cuttle is doing in the photo.. There is a dark spot in the mass; could it still be eggs? I've seen them eat, and that's not what this looks like to me, but that was hunting.