The other day I was watching one of those nature shows on TV and I wasn’t expecting anything more than the typical, Lion is hungry -Lion chases gazelle pack -Lion kills weak baby gazelle while cameraman helplessly films the attack, kind of like the cameraman in the Rodney king beating-but that’s another story. Anyway, I was a lot more impressed when I saw the segment on this strange" fish?" called the Cuttlefish. Aside from just looking oddly cool, this sea creature is a master of camouflage. The cuttlefish can change the color of its skin into patterns and designs in such a way it would put any chameleon to shame. After already being sold on the cuttlefishes David Blaine like illusion skills, I was impressed even more when I found out how smart they were. Just like us Cuttlefish come in different shapes and sizes, some are big and some are small, and just like most things in the animal kingdom, the bigger creatures use their size to try and dominate where they can. When mating time comes around the female cuttlefish will choose a mate (or he will choose her I’m not exactly sure maybe it’s a mutual thing). In most cases the large Cuttlefish will most likely have it easier getting a mate, not just because of attractiveness but because once he’s found a mate, the larger fish will guard the female like an angry bouncer fending off all competition with the female hiding right behind/underneath him. With this kind of nonsense going on you'd think the smaller cuttlefish would be outta' luck right? WRONG! What the smaller cuttlefish lacks in size he makes up for in brains. The small cuttlefish have discovered an ingenious way to get around this problem.
Since the larger Cuttlefish are so huge and aggressive, leaving the smaller ones with no chance of a fight, the smaller Cuttlefish have figured out how to use larger cuttlefishes greed and own selfish attitudes against him. The cuttlefish is not only a master of camouflage but a master of disguise, when looking for a mate the smaller male cuttlefish will change his appearance to look as if he were a female, so when he comes across a larger male who is guarding a prospective female the larger male will actually welcome him thinking he has another mate. Not realizing he has led another male directly into the welcoming arms of the female cuttlefish that is happy to mate with him, right underneath the large cuttlefish! Scandalous! In an odd way this processes has benefited the female, and the future cuttlefish population weeding out the week and stupid, in that the female will now have large dominate offspring and smaller cunning offspring to continue the cuttlefishes amazing lifecycle.
See the cuttlefish here.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x-8v1mxpR0
Since the larger Cuttlefish are so huge and aggressive, leaving the smaller ones with no chance of a fight, the smaller Cuttlefish have figured out how to use larger cuttlefishes greed and own selfish attitudes against him. The cuttlefish is not only a master of camouflage but a master of disguise, when looking for a mate the smaller male cuttlefish will change his appearance to look as if he were a female, so when he comes across a larger male who is guarding a prospective female the larger male will actually welcome him thinking he has another mate. Not realizing he has led another male directly into the welcoming arms of the female cuttlefish that is happy to mate with him, right underneath the large cuttlefish! Scandalous! In an odd way this processes has benefited the female, and the future cuttlefish population weeding out the week and stupid, in that the female will now have large dominate offspring and smaller cunning offspring to continue the cuttlefishes amazing lifecycle.
See the cuttlefish here.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x-8v1mxpR0
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