cephalopods

folks,

I haven't been able to track these cephalopods down, any help would be appreciated. If you can point out some diagnostic features to help me in the future then that would be a bonus!

Octopus hunting at night in Cozumel:

Squid at night in Cozumel:

Cuttlefish in the daytime at Anilao, Philippine Islands:

Daytime cuttlefish off Phuket, Thailand:

Baby cuttlefish (?) about an inch or two long at Lembeh Strait, Indonesia (do the two dark lines indicate that this is a Broadclub Cuttlefish, Sepia latimanus?):

Thanks in advance,

Richard.

The octopus is the Caribbean Reef octopus, Octopus briareus. The dark ring around the eye helps to I.D. them.

The Cuttlefish are as you suspect: Broadclub Cuttlefish, Sepia latimanus. They can change colour in amazing ways from pure white to yellow, brown and reddish.

The squid is the Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea). At night the colours become more pronounced.

Cheers,

Marli

Marli, are you including the Phuket cuttlefish as Sepia latimanus? The ones like that around Phuket are usually ID'd as Sepia pharaonis.

Also, Richard, your Anilao cuttlefish picture link is wrong.

Marli,

Thanks very much for the input, it's much appreciated.

When you mention the dark ring around the eye of the octopus, is that the dark smudge around the top half of the eye, or the 1/4 inch dark marking immediately surrounding its eyeball? I assume the latter.

Richard.

Nick,

Thanks for pointing out that the link to the third photo is wrong, I've fixed it now [though probably no-one will read this again to help with the ID! ]

Thanks also for mentioning the possibility of an alternative ID on the Phuket cuttlefish, I guess I'll have to see whether anyone can provide some distinguishing characteristic which would allow a positive ID to be made!

Richard.

When you mention the dark ring around the eye of the octopus, is that the dark smudge around the top half of the eye, or the 1/4 inch dark marking immediately surrounding its eyeball?

I meant the mark around the eye.

As for the cuttlefish, here is an interesting quote from Andrea & Antonella Ferrari's www.ReefWonders.net:

"The latter usually sports thinly white-barred tentacles, but both are capable of switching patterns, colors and even skin texture in a matter of seconds, going from a smooth unicolored or faintly mottled general shape to a perfectly camouflaged one sporting all sorts of spots, bars and skin flaps. In season they can often be observed among branching coral colonies, courting each other, mating and subsequently laying clusters of blackish, grape-like eggs among the coral ramifications, where they will be better protected by roving predators."

There seems to be a hint of white spots or bars on the tentacle, but I'm not really sure, due to the angle of the photo.

Cheers,

Marli

Marli,

Thanks for that.

Here are two photos of the same Phuket cuttlefish, hopefully from a more useful angle. They were taken 18 seconds apart (unfortunately I blew out the highlights on the first one):

Richard.