Incredible world-first footage shows shape-shifting cuttlefish

An amazing video has, for the first time, captured cuttlefish walking like  hermit crabs to sneak up on their prey.

The intelligent sea creatures, which are closely related to octopuses and squid, raise their front arms while bending their other tentacles to mimic a crab’s head and legs.

The fish then move their legs independently while they glide along the floor so they appear to crawl, and certain parts of the body form dark spots.

The researchers who found the bizarre behaviour say it helps the fish to fool their dinner into a false sense of security.

Hermit crabs are filter feeders and so don’t pose a threat to cuttlefish prey, which include smaller fish and molluscs.

Mimicking a crab gives the cuttlefish time to sneak up on prey undetected.

In their study on the newly found behaviour, the researchers, said that the cuttlefish likely adopts the behaviour to avoid predators too.

This is because ocean predators are less likely to attack a hard-shelled crab than they are a soft-shelled cuttlefish.

The team said they first noticed the behaviour when they were feeding a group of pharaoh cuttlefish in the lab.

‘We were surprised to see how closely they resemble hermit crabs,’ study lead author Dr Kohei Okamoto said.

In experiments to test the behaviour, the team found that cuttlefish using the mimicry caught twice as many fish as those that didn’t.

‘It’s possible that the distance between cuttlefish and their prey is reduced when they exhibit the behaviour,’ Dr Okamato said.

Cuttlefish, like octopuses, are known mimics, and can change their colour, skin texture and posture to instantly blend in with their surroundings.

They are known to make complex movements with their arms to capture prey, as part of mating rituals and in mimicking their surroundings.

Previous research on the fish has shown that males can make half their bodies look like females to trick their rivals.

On one side of its body, it adopts female markings to deter potential rivals, while on the other, it displays brilliant masculine colours.

This enables it to covertly attract partners-to-be without fear of being chased off.

The behaviour was found in the male mourning cuttlefish.

It is meant to boost mating chances in a short-lived species where discerning females far outnumber fiercely competitive males. According to Daily mail

N.H.Kh