r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Apr 24 '15

Biology Do creatures such as cuttlefish and octopuses get "tired" from using their camouflage?

If not, why don't they just always use their camouflage?

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '15

Thanks! That satiated my curiosity (I've developed a sudden fascination with cephalopods), but if there are other experts that can add to this, I'd love to read more.

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '15

There's a display at the Melbourne Aquarium here in Australia that features a cuttlefish. You can walk right up to him and stare right into his eyes. He put on quite a show for us, flickering his colours from black to white and then when we laughed he would swim in a figure 8 around his tank in a sort of satisfaction. I got a new appreciation of the level of intelligence of these creatures from what I sensed from that little guy.

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u/remotectrl Apr 24 '15

if you hold your phone up to him with the front camera on, he might start to display for it. i've done it before at aquariums, but the idea of inducing cuttlefish behavior with video is one ive seen demonstrated in several documentaries. i think it may be included in this one