Friday Cephalopod: a subtle overlord in blue pastels

Is that a fossil???

Wow, Cephalopods are interesting creatures to say the least. How big is this one?

lolsquids

INVISIBLE CEPHALOPOD

Geez, that is good camouflage.

Makes me think of a carpet shark. Very beautiful!

That's one very scary overlord. He bears a striking resemblance to a Pope. That'll give me nightmares. Cardinal Smithi becomes Pope Sepia. Being that he's a cephalopod, I'll accept him as Overlord, but never as my spiritual leader, just because the image of him is so papal.

Beauty.

Yay! Cephalopods, not crackers. THIS is why I love this site.

Indeed, no pope could dress more snappily than with one of those on his head.

OK, I am the guilty one, but I think we need a new law now to go with Godwin's Law. Myers' Law: As post count increases, the odds of some one mentioning the cracker approach unity :)

Is it really camouflage, or just a serendipitous background for the photo? I wonder what this guy looks like at other wavelengths than visible light...

Is it just me or does that sexy beast have frackin laser beams coming out of it's frackin eyes. :)

Is it really camouflage, or just a serendipitous background for the photo?

It's real. He has chromatophores in his skin that let him blend in almost anywhere he finds himself. I have no idea if it's the same species, but here's another well camouflaged cuttlefish on Wikipedia.

that's a beautiful wee creature.

@#11

Squids and octopods have amazing camouflage abilities. There's a video (will try to find it) of experiments where they put a squid or an octopus on various colours and textures to see what it would do.

Watching it try to do the black and white checkerboard pattern was interesting, and it makes a good effort at it.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/camo/

Ah, it's not a video, it's a paper. Here are some links:

http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/203/2/232.pdf

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/figsonly/204/12/2119

Hooray, a cephalopod at last and a well kewl one :)

Kryth, first thing I spotted were the lasers as well.

Squids and octopods have amazing camouflage abilities. There's a video (will try to find it) of experiments where they put a squid or an octopus on various colours and textures to see what it would do.

Watching it try to do the black and white checkerboard pattern was interesting, and it makes a good effort at it.

I've actually helped with research like that when I interned at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. The researchers were mainly working with cuttlefish, and I was able to contruct a project working with octopuses on b&w checkered backgrounds. Some of the results from the young cuttlefish were particularly striking.

Some of the results from the young cuttlefish were particularly striking.
Why the young ones specifically, do you think? Or is it just a question of size - smaller cuttlefish, fewer "checks" to make, so fewer abrupt changes in color. Or do the chromatophores grow less effective as they get older?

Cool!

Actually there was a Discovery Channel take on this very thing. The video was interesting.

He needs to be a character in an animated flic. Much cooler than a square sponge.

Exceptionally cool cuttlefish. Does it camouflage itself in this way to hide from the things it eats, or the things that eat it?

Ohhhh Ahhhhh, cool. Looks very fossil like. But also jelly like at the same time.

He (she? it?)'s cute, I wonder if it likes to cuddle!

Until I stumbled upon Pharyngula, I never realized how beautiful and varied these animals can be. This one is simply lovely. I really enjoy the Friday Ceph.

He (she? it?)'s cute, I wonder if it likes to cuddle!

That would make it a "cuddlefish"!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

CTHULHU!?! MASTER!!! I'M COMING HOME...

Hey, PZ, did you see that a zebra fish won a beauty contest? Okay, it didn't win, it came in second. And it wasn't the whole fish. Still cool, though.

http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/gallery.php?grouping=year&year=2007&imag…

Professor,

Do you have a small penis?

If anything is worship-worthy, I'd be delighted to nominate Sepia smithii as Divine Overlord, at least of this solar system unto the heliopause.

And Shas, it is not for us to question our noodly appendages in relation to others', or others' in relation to ours. All noodly appendages are gifts of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (peace be unto it) and are each sufficient unto each. Please dedicate yourself to finding the FSM within yourself through careful study and ministration of your own gift, thereby learning not to be such a maroon.

#11

Is it really camouflage, or just a serendipitous background for the photo?

When you get to a depth of around 20 feet, everything is shades of blue, unless you are using artificial lighting to photograph.

That's why I've always preferred snorkel to SCUBA

Professor,

Do you have a small penis?

Posted by: Shas | July 25, 2008 10:16 PM

Gaping Vagina, Ms Shas? They all seem small in a wizard's hat. Learn to do some of the exercises, but know there is only so much you can do to correct cavernous hand me down genital genetics.

Education is important, train the males to come in at a 45 degree angle for necessary friction. Many women with your disorder have managed to mate. Maintaining a monogamous relationship may be more difficult without restraints.

Good luck

Oooohhhh! It's so pretty!

Professor,

Do you have a small penis?

Posted by: Shas | July 25, 2008 10:16 PM

What exactly does this have to do with Cephalopods? Did I miss something somewhere?

I have absolutely no idea why I decided to capitalize "cephalopods". That was just stupid.

Ooooh, that's lovely. Looks like it came out of a Bosch painting.

There's some mistake. That is obviously Anthony Hopkins.