WEBVTT - Cuddling up to the Cuttlefish 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:04.720 Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how stuff 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:16.560 works dot com. Hey guys, welcome to the podcast. This 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:18.760 is Alison an't like the science center at how stuff 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.320 works dot com. And this is Robert Lamb, science writer 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.120 at how stuff works dot com. And you know, today 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.280 we are talking about like what is probably the most 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:31.280 boss animal in the entire ocean. We're talking about and 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.120 also the cutest, the cuttlefish. The cutest. I would like 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.080 to cuttle up to cuttleish, wouldn't you. Yeah, I mean 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.239 they look kind of like, uh, there's something kind of 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:39.879 like kitten like about them when you see him at 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.159 the aquarium. Indeed, I do think kittens when I see 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:43.920 cuttle fish. Yeah, Like you know how like like a 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.960 cattle can of like ball up and be like a 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.519 little you know, a little handful of cat. Well, it's 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:51.440 like like cuttlefish kind of have that look going on 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.520 most of the time, you know, and they're they're hovering 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.960 around and their little their little tanks and and you know, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.760 changing colors wildly. It's it's amazing stuff. Yeah, we get 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.480 interested in cuttlefish back when we did life um in 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.880 the beginning of two thousand ten, we did all sorts 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.120 of interesting articles on cuttlefish, and one of them was 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.720 this really amazing sequence in Life in which the videographers 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.600 had a pretty tough task. Yeah. Yeah, they were trying 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:19.720 to you know, they have all this footage that they 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.240 shot on the ocean floor and and it's not you know, 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.320 when you go down on to the ocean Florida to 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.920 shoot something like cuttlefish mating, it's not just like, all right, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:29.360 we're gonna turn on the camera and then when we 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.040 turn it off we have our footage. No, it's like 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.680 shooting stuff here and there, and you know, and it's 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.720 it's all out of sequence, and it's like shooting a movie, right, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.039 And then you get it back, you hand it over 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:39.960 to the editors and they start trying to piece it together. 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.400 And there's a pretty tricky factor here those because they're 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.880 changing colors. It's like one second, this uh, this cuttlefish 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.480 is small and white, and then it's like it's changed 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.200 it's texture, it's dark purple, and it's over here, you know, 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.480 and it's all happening in the space of seconds. So yes, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.360 imagine if you were like the you know, the editor 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.840 on a film, and you were you had shot like 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.920 Tom Cruise. But Tom Cruise kept like morphing into other people, 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.760 you know, and you're like, oh, well his range isn't 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.040 that soul. But occasionally he does morph into another person, 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.360 you know, and yeah on Oprah or you know, interview 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.359 with the Vampire or something. You know, it's like, but 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:19.600 but what all that was happening, you know, in the 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.320 space of like one shoot. Yeah, So cuttlefish can be 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.040 hard to track, much like Tom Cruise. Yeah, they're amazing animals. Yeah, 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.399 there are a hundred and twenty species of cuttlefish. And uh, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.959 I'm assuming a lot of people out there have seen 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.160 this guy. Either you've seen him in uh or her 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.440 in on a YouTube video, or you've you've you watched 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.320 Life you know especially yeah, or you've seen him at 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.880 seen him at a various aquarium. So like here in Atlanta, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.560 I know we've had them, Um for different periods. You 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.600 were seeing aquarium. You're saying you saw him in Monterey, right, Yes, Um, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.120 my wife and I went out to California recently and 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:58.840 we went to the Monterey Aquarium and we had a 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.239 gotta we we gotta special treat when we popped in there, 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:07.000 because the cuttlefish were actually breeding and depositing eggs. So 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.160 it was like super magical. We almost skipped over it. 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.800 We're like, oh, cuttlefish, Well, we're about ready to go. 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.200 You know, we've seen cuttlefish before, but we ain't even 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.080 gett ended up getting sucked in by you know, the 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:19.560 colors and the cuteness and lo and behold they were breeding. 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:21.920 It was it was awesome. They also have some really 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.440 cool cuttlefish up at the aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Good 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:30.160 to know, Good to know. Um eyes, Their eyes are amazing, right, yeah, yeah, 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.840 there they have. They're highly developed, like like a lot 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.160 of the cephalopods, and they have these W shaped pupils. 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.520 So the interesting thing is they're color blind, but like 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:42.600 a lot of animals that live on the depths of 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.000 the ocean floor, they're great with low light. So when 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:47.680 you think about it, humans are you know, we have 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:49.520 pretty good vision and we can do cool things like 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.680 we shape our lenses to zoom in. But the cuttlefish 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.720 can actually reshape its entire eye, which I found fascinating. Yeah, 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.040 pretty cool. Uh. And then of course tentacles or arms. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:03.840 Tentacles and arms, that's a major feature. They tend to 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.720 have some sort of um, you know, slipped together. It 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:08.160 kind of look you know, it's kind of almost like 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.760 a It reminds me of like a hairstyle or something. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.840 You know. They have them slipped together almost into like 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:17.960 a beak shape, you know, very aerodynamic and I'm thinking mohawk. 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.920 But yeah, it's but they have they have eight sucker 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.839 lined arms and two tentacles. Those are the longer deals 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.839 to grass prey or or to grasp other cuttlefish, you know, 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:33.880 depending on what the altercations. Yeah. Yeah, it's also used 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.160 in breeding. Yeah, and they have a beak, which apparently 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.400 freaks Josh Clark out for some reason. Yeah. They did 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:41.960 recently did a podcast on octopi and uh and apparently 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.560 Josh was just freaking out over the fact that cephalopods 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.159 have have little beaks. We don't. I mean, I can 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.320 kind of understand Josh's concerned on this one. I tend 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.720 to think of beaks being associated mostly with land animals. 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.560 Land they ye like, so it's not creepy if a 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.520 bird has a beak, but if if a cephalopod has 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:04.039 a beak, and it's crazy. Yeah, I think it's My 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.400 wife finds like beaks and birds to be really creepy, 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.960 like especially big big birds, not big bird, but like 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.039 large birds. Like you know, if you got to like 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.200 to our Thomas a little restaurant here in the line 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.839 where they have cages outside with like two cans and stuff. Um, 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.120 like that freaks her out because I think all she 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.159 can think about her like like them sort of like 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.680 pecking your eyes with their big beaks or or you know, 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:31.479 their little black tongues. Yeah, there's a freaky scenario. Birds are. Yeah, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:33.560 and then they also have a little little hover skirt 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.119 kind of a fin. Yeah. The fin is really awesome 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.400 because it's like like a single kind of wavery fin 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.000 thing that like curves all the way around there. They're 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.720 they're they're behind and uh and it does it just 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.920 kind of like undulates, you know, and uh and they 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.320 get a massive amount of maneuverability with that. They can 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.120 pretty much move in any direction, you know, at the 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.600 drop of a hat. It's it's it's like, you know, 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.320 you really get a hovering sensation watching them. They're just 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.640 kind of like drifting or just hanging in one spot. Yeah, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.440 that is until they fire up the jet propulsion. Oh yeah, 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.200 and that happens when they suck the water into their 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.320 mantle cavity and then they force it back out through 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.560 the funnel. And that's just the opening located right under 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:15.480 the head. So they do this when they want to 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:17.839 change direction speed and it kind of swivels the funnel 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:22.640 or it narrows it to intensify that blast of water. Yeah, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.120 it's pretty cool. They're gonna awesome that they have jet propulsion. 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.680 It is. Don't you wish you had jet propulsion? Um? 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.960 Not really? You know, you see your editor coming towards 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.760 you with a red lined draft of a paper you 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:36.680 work so hard on. You know what, I don't feel 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.360 like dealing with us. You turn on the jet propulsion, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.480 you high tail it at Well, okay, I would go 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.799 for the jet propulsion provided I had another defense mechanism. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.560 That the cuttlefish has um And again this is another 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.720 thing it squares it shares with certain squid, and that 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.720 that is that it has an ink sac. All right, um, 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:55.480 but but here's the thing that's really amazing. All right, 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.359 everybody knows that like an ink sac. Okay, you know, 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:59.479 the a squid or a cuttlefish can create like a 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.000 smoke screen of ink and then fleet the scene all right, 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.240 that's that's nothing compared to their The secondary use of 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.680 the of the ink, and that is to create what 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:14.200 is called a pseudomorph. It means false form, and it's 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.280 basically bubbles of ink surrounded by mucus, and it's they 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.200 shoot it out and it kind of occupies the same 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.080 amount of space that the squid with that the that 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.720 the cuttlefish would be in. But here's the deal. Right 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.720 before they shoot it out, they turn really dark, so 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.040 that the cuttlefish turns really dark, shoots out this black 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.160 mass that's roughly the same shape and right right, and 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.520 then the cuttlefish turns like white and then uses the 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.880 jets to speed away. So then the press so the 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:44.040 predator sees this dark cuttlefish jump, you know, speeds in 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:46.520 to eat it, and then the couple fish you know, 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.080 cuts out, and then the attacker ends up biting into 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.760 this big blob of ink and mucus. Yeah. So if 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.200 I had that defense, and you were to bring me 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.280 some paper that I didn't want to deal with at 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.920 the moment, I would just you know, I hit the inks, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.120 drop a pseudomorphic, and then get out of there, and 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.720 then you'd be you'd be having this conversation about the 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.960 about this latest draft, with this big pile of inc communcus. Also, 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.560 my sense of smell would be temporarily parallels because the 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:19.360 inc can contain dopamine and a precursor to dopamine. Some 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.360 I'm sitting there confused and I have no sense of smell, 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:24.440 and Robert has gone, He's fled the scene. See these 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:26.280 the couple wish have it figured out. These are just 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:28.960 amazing creatures and we're not even we're not even halfway 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.840 through without everything that's that's cool about them. I mean, 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.560 this is just like it's like if you went to 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:36.000 a car dealership to buy um, like an animal, or 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.440 you know, your local cephalopod dealership, and you're like, all right, 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.040 show me something that's just just has it, just has 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.800 all the features. They would pull out the cuttlefish because 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:48.640 these guys just have everything. Well, not to mention their brain, right, Yeah, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:53.120 these are these are pretty uh smart creatures, pretty braining creatures. Yeah. 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:54.880 They have one of the largest brain to body size 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.960 ratios of any invertebrate out there, and uh, as active predators, 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.400 they really need that brain to kind of help them 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.160 react to their environment and you know, even learn some 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.319 new tricks. Yeah, and it kind of comes down to 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.880 like they need that big brain because again, they have 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.640 a lot of really cool features. It's kind of like 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:16.000 Stephen Hawkings wheelchair, Um, which I'm so curious to see 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:17.400 where you're going with. Well, this is a fact that 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.640 I I meant to mention in our Stephen Hawking podcast 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.480 and it's just going to try to work it into 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:23.920 the tuttle Well no, it just was not a conscious effort. 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:27.080 But but now Stephen Hawkings wheelchair has like all this 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.439 like crazy computer stuff on it, you know, because he 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.120 depends on it to comm know, to communicate and he's 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.360 just constantly plugged in. Yeah, wait, what are you saying 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:40.880 that IBM send some spanking new fantasy periodically. Yeah. Someone 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:42.360 may have to correct me on that, but I'll believe 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.760 fits right. He gets the latest tech, it's my understanding, 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.439 But he also needs the equivalent of a car battery 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.000 to run it all, whereas like a normally you know, um, 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.160 you know, a powered wheelchair would have a less robust battery. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:56.640 So the cuttle fish is in a position where it 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.640 has a lot of really awesome features and it needs 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.600 a high you know caliber brain. Tip to run it all. 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.600 It's not reading books or anything, but it's so you 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.680 think it's supercharged when it comes to things like camouflage. 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:11.079 They never they don't have a cuttle fish on record 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.079 of reading Tolster or anything like that. Huh. They might 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.440 they might be doing some audio books. You know. You 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.520 hear these voices on the Adego books. You never really 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.240 see these guys that could it could be a cuttlefish. Yeah. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.960 And and the brain is also really important in directing 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.600 the pigment producing cells and and directing its camouflage activities 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:35.080 Tolstoy camouflage, you know. Yeah, before we get into the 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:40.280 camouflage hardcore though, just a couple other quick anatomical facts. Um, 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.600 they're obviously they're really cute animals. And they have three hearts, 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:45.920 which may or may not be related to the cuteness, 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.960 but it is more likely related to the fact that 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:51.040 they need two hearts to pump their blue green blood 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.880 to the gills and one to circulate oxygenated blood to 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:58.680 the rest of the body. They can't hear them, I really, 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.520 but they do detect sound in the form of pressure waves, 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:04.800 and how do they do that? By the way, have 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.720 some handy lateral at the dermal lines, they feel like 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:11.079 the wave pressure. I think that's why I thought, yeah, yeah, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.360 I think that's the way it works. Um and again 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.720 before we we're getting to the camouflage. But just a 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:20.240 couple of other interesting things about them. Size. When it 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.160 comes to the size of these cuttlefish, the smallest species 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.160 grows to be about three inches long, and I believe 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.320 these are typically like occupied like sort of tidal areas, 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.480 like tidal pool areas. And then the largest of the species, 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.080 which is called the broad club cuttlefish, which sounds like 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.120 a real thug of a of a sea creature. Yeah, 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.640 the club, I think is what gives you that broad 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.400 club cuttle fit like it takes the you know, we 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.720 think of cuttle we think of you know, like you know, 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.839 like kittens spooning each other something. But but but and 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.080 so you think of that when you when you elliot, 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:55.800 you know, I know it's not the same just to 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:57.760 clare yet it's a different word. But then when you 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.360 throw broad club on there, it's like they just totally 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:02.920 throws it out and those suckers can get too, to 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.240 be like five and a half feet long. And then 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.760 the the common cuttle fish is more than the three 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:13.240 foot range. I'm also excited that there is a species 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:18.440 known as um Feefer's flamboyant cuttlefish. Those are the guys 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.800 that are able to um kind of walk along the ocean. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.200 They're apparently the only type of cuttle fish that kind 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.120 of walks along. And then they're really cool looking. They're 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.120 very I don't know the pictures I saw, they were 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.439 kind of a dark red kind of thing, but um, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.920 you know, they're cuttlefish, so I imagine that changes depending on, 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:38.320 you know, seasonal fashions. Yeah, they're fickle, those cuttlefish. So 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:43.440 let's talk a little bit of about their camouflage. Okay, Yeah, 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.160 they can, like we said, they can change from like 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.959 white to purple and a flash. Uh. They appear to 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:52.120 sort of pulsate with light, you know, the very magical 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.559 looking iridescent, and then the very um surface of their 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:59.080 skin can sort of change, like it'll look look, you know, 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.240 just soft to the touch at one at one point, 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:03.600 and then it'll kind of creakle into this, uh, this 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:09.320 rocky surface and you know, just again it happened so subtly, 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.400 like if you're watching them in a tank, it's it's 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:13.440 it's like a trick of the eye almost because because 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.559 I mean they'll do like a quick flash here and 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.600 there where those are Suddenly there are different colors, Suddenly 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.040 their texture changes. But a lot of it's just really subtle, 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.760 like a mood ring or something. Yeah, and all that 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.679 awesome camouflage action is controlled by the chromatophores, which we 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.160 kind of just mentioned, and those are just the pigment cells, 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:30.719 and a heck of a lot of pigment cells too. 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.280 We're talking ten million, as many as ten million, so 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.199 if you think about that per square millimeter, that's roughly 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.079 two square millimeter, so that's a lot. That's a lot. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.720 And they have these muscles that are attached to the 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.880 chromatophores and they tighten and relax to control which color 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:50.000 is displayed. Cool, and then the changeable texture that I 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.120 was talking about, that's due to bundles of muscles that 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.840 that are that are also under the skin that changed 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.719 the surface. So that's that's another component of the disguise. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:02.920 You know, I feel like if I were in a 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.320 bad mood, I would definitely want that spiky surface, you know, 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.000 stay away from me. I'm feeling kind of spiky. Yeah, 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:10.840 I could I can see that being the case. It 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.679 would be like imagine, well, let's let's get through the 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.080 next component and then we'll imagine what life would be 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.920 like if we had these abilities. Because they also have 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:25.600 these reflecting plates. Um underneath, yeah, underneath the chromatophors, and 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.280 that's the where you get that, like I said, that 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:33.040 irridescent reflection kind of thing going on. Those have a vocabulary, 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.120 so all that color comes in handy to communicate. You're 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.800 not necessarily highly social, but they are able to communicate 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.720 as many I think as forty different signals biologists have identified. Yeah, 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.440 they've they've identified like forty different you know, combinations of 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.960 color and texture and all that that seemed to mean 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:54.240 a certain thing in the cuplefish world and between cuttlefish. Um. 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.120 So you know, vocabulary is a nice comfy human term 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.840 we throw at it. But but yeah, forty different different signals. 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.320 For instance, UM display, zebra display. Have you ever seen 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.920 one do this? By the way, I've definitely seen photos 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:08.360 of it, but it seems like when I see him 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.280 in tanks. No, I think I think I have seen 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.200 a zebra display. Right, So, zebra display, you want to 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.400 watch out because that's basically communicating I'm a mail, I'm 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.320 ready to do get out. Yeah, it's like humans have 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.160 their I think all animals have their zebra displays. They 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.320 just what is the human zebra display? How do we display? 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.440 How do humans display anger? Well? I don't know. I 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.600 kind of see a zebra display on Marta sometimes, Like 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.480 sometimes you'll see like the dude that's kind of like 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.480 that's um, he'll kind of like he'll put it like 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.520 a small bag in the Marta seat next to him 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:39.200 and he kind of sits there was like kind of 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.160 a tough guy. Look, you know, it's it's silly in 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:42.920 this all body language and all, but it's kind of like, 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.240 I'm a dude, don't sit next to me. You know, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:49.080 I'm tough. Don't mess with me kind of a thing. Yeah. Yeah. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.280 Or maybe you make eye contact for a second and 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.840 it kind of holds your glance and then you look around, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.280 you look away real fast. Yeah, yeah, that kind of thing. 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.360 The stink ye if you will, I guess the stink 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.520 ey is more of uh like it's not really it's 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:03.560 a different thing. You guys, MS you should be in 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.240 the studio with us, because Robert just trying to do 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.000 the stink eye, which was kind of funny. But yeah, 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.880 imagine if though you like our our daily lives, I 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:13.600 mean we again we have body lane, which we have 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.680 our our our facial like micro expressions. But imagine like 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.960 were like super pronounced and we you know, we communicated 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.200 through flashes of color and and and weird textures and 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:29.040 and iridescent displays. It would be pretty pretty amazing. In fact, 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:33.480 there's a there's one group of researchers from Woods, yeah, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.880 Woods Whole Marine Biology Laboratory in Massachusetts that are looking 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:41.440 into the possibility that that that that that that iridescent 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.960 display relates to this thing they call light polar polarization signaling. 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.240 That means that there's just there's like an entirely different 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.760 layer of communication. It's like a very subtle communication that 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.480 they're pulling off between each other based on the kind 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.880 of shimmering uh displays that you see go on and 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:00.920 with their skin. So we might be picking up the 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.760 obviously were display, but there's another signal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:08.920 do the subtext I guess, you know, to the cuttlefish subtext. 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.840 I like them. So one of the most interesting signs 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:16.320 that for aggression that they have is that the peace signal? 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.000 You're telling me about this? This is cool? So they 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.760 hold up the two uh fingers are arms. Yeah, they 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:24.880 hold up a couple of the arms, um and kind 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:26.880 of and it looks a lot like like right now, 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.000 I'm I'm holding up two fingers like I'm doing the 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:33.560 peace signal, um, the peace sign and uh. Apparently if 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.480 they're if they're in a situation where they're trying to 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.840 intimidate somebody, reward off something, if the colors don't work, 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.160 they'll raise those two uh, those two arms up. So 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.520 you'll have divers apparently that when they're diving down and 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.960 dealing with cuttlefish as a lark, they will they'll they'll 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.160 give the peace sign to the cuttlefish and the cuttlefish 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.560 will give the peace sign back. Though they're totally different meanings. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.679 The you know, the the human diver is doing it, 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.600 you know, out of humor and out of a sense 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.879 of peace. He doesn't want to harm the cuttlefish. Generally, 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.920 I would out, and the cuttlefish is saying, stay the 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.760 heck away from me. Yeah, wellmo, I'm gonna blast you 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.359 with the pseudomorph if you don't watch out, buddy, I 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.000 love the pseudomorphos. That's amazing. People would probably be a 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.120 pretty good band name too. Let's talk about the mating though. 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.879 This is really where the cuttlefish shines. Yeah, this is 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.639 pretty pretty awesome. And there's a whole segment on life 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.280 that deals with this from the Underwater Creatures episode. And 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:30.879 it's kind of a gender bender, Yes, it is a 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.760 gender bender. Like it basically breaks down to in the 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:37.040 male In the world of male cuttlefish, you kind of 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.040 have two types of dudes. You have the big it's 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.520 kind of like you've ever seen those like the cartoons 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.720 of the old, like nineteen fifties type of things where 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.399 you have the wormy guy on the beach and he 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:49.399 goes out there with his girlfriend and then the big 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.879 muscle dude kicks sand on him. Well, that's that's the 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:54.880 same thing that's going on here. We have the big, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.400 beefy cuttlefish that are out on the beach to pick 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.320 up a chick. And then there's the wormy dude that 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:01.679 you know, might have brought his his book, you know, 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.120 with him to read his his you know, sci fi 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:08.200 collection or something um. And so, so those are the 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.000 two guys out there vying for the for the females. 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.480 So when it comes down to muscle, there's gonna be 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:16.800 one winner, of course, right right, and that's going to 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.600 be the broad beefy guy. But that's not to say 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:24.160 that the female cuttlefish won't let the the more petite 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.680 male approach. And the petite male has to be really 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:28.639 careful about this because nobody wants to get beat up 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.360 cuttlefish style or in real life. Yeah they can really, 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.560 I've seen some images of them tearing it up down there, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.919 and they can get pretty vicious in their their their fights. 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.159 So the smaller size cuttlefish will change its colors to 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.959 reflect the coloration of a female, yeah, you know, kind 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:47.159 of like make himself small and submissive posturing type, you know, 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:48.800 and it will get real close to the female, the 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.600 mate that it has identified, and that's how it wins 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.600 the battle. And that's really how the broad beefy guys 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.680 and the you know, smaller, petite, perhaps more intelligent gender 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:03.160 bender cuttlefish coexis. Yeah, and because it's like both both 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.280