Friday Cephalopod: Flamboyant!
Category: Organisms
Posted on: March 24, 2006 7:03 AM, by PZ Myers

Metasepia pfefferi, Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal

PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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Category: Organisms
Posted on: March 24, 2006 7:03 AM, by PZ Myers

Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
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Comments
I thought you might like this close-up of the eye of a cuttlefish : http://www.futura-sciences.com/communiquer/g/showphoto.php/photo/1807/size/big
(thanks to my regular visits here, I knew this was the eye of a cephalopod without reading the title of the image)
Posted by: Sophie | March 24, 2006 7:35 AM
"Pfeffer's Flambouyant Cuttlefish" - if only Grace Slick had heard of him in 1964, that could have been the Jefferson Airplane's name. Dammit!
Posted by: Coragyps | March 24, 2006 9:01 AM
Very amazing cuttlefish!
It sorta bothers me to see what these animals of capable of, then read the last posted article on "squid chips" that most people won't eat anyway. Sad end to a beautiful creature.
Same for whaling in Japan, people who taste them say they taste terrible, but, they "gotta kill um" for national pride or something.
Posted by: Rocky | March 24, 2006 9:23 AM
Very amazing cuttlefish!
It sorta bothers me to see what these animals of capable of, then read the last posted article on "squid chips" that most people won't eat anyway. Sad end to a beautiful creature.
Same for whaling in Japan, people who taste them say they taste terrible, but, they "gotta kill um" for national pride or something.
Posted by: Rocky | March 24, 2006 9:23 AM
I have to say that while I don't share your love of cephalopods in general, or squid in particular, I love -- and I mean love! -- cuttlefish. Watching them change colors so rapidly, as if communicating complex messages to each other, is fascinating. Plus, they're just damn cute.
Posted by: Chris | March 24, 2006 9:23 AM
Coragyps, we must be a few years apart in age, because my first thought was that "Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish" sounded like a spell from the old AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. Or Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories, which were a big influence on the AD&D folks.
Posted by: jackd | March 24, 2006 10:50 AM
Oh, goody, now there are gay squid for the Right-Wing Christian squid to deny marriage rights to.
Posted by: Lago | March 24, 2006 12:16 PM
Totally misread the title as 'Flying Cephalopod'. Only time I've been disappointed by a squidpost.
Posted by: The Rev. Schmitt. | March 24, 2006 8:05 PM
cuttlefish are the best...my wife spotted one while we where snorkelling a few months ago, it was disguising itself as a bunch of dead leaves. we followed it around for an hour or so, watching it change with the coral and plants around it. occasionally it would turn to us, flash a bit, and make what i assume was the tentacle sign that means "please fuck off."
their pure spaciness makes it sad to see them constantly turn up on the menu in various forms, but most particularly in 7-11s as "ken-ken: chewing gum of the orientals."
Posted by: miko | March 24, 2006 10:05 PM
I'll stop eating cuttlefish as soon as catholics stop eating Jesus.
Posted by: Hungry | March 26, 2006 12:27 AM