First observations of a snail-like body pattern in juvenile Sepia bandensis (Cephalopoda: Sepiidae). A note

Kaiser, Rainer; Hasselmann, Marco

doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2012/0259

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…A mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus , is the most well-known example of this, and has been suggested to impersonate various venomous animals, such as a poisonous sole, sea snake and lionfish (Norman et al 2001). In addition, Warnke et al (2012) have reported that the stumpy-spined cuttlefish, Sepia bandensis, seems to move like a snail. Since cuttlefish are soft bodied and vulnerable to predation (Hanlon and Messenger 1996), mimicking hermit crabs, which have a hard shell to protect them against predators, presumably would be beneficial to some degree for the cuttlefish.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unique arm-flapping behavior of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis: putative mimicry of a hermit crab

Okamoto

Yasumuro

Mori

et al. 2017

J Ethol

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Cephalopods are able to control their arms sophisticatedly and use them for various behaviors, such as camouflage, startling predators and hunting prey. Here, we report a previously undescribed arm-flapping behavior of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, observed in captivity. S. pharaonis raised the first pair of arms and wrinkled the parts near the distal end, where the skin color was darkened. Additionally, S. pharaonis spread the second and third pairs of arms and bent them as if they were jointed, and flapped the distal ends. S. pharaonis showed this behavior in two different situations: after being introduced into a large space, and during hunting. We discuss the putative functions of this behavior, including possible mimicry of a hermit crab, considering the situations in which the behavior was observed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10164-017-0519-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%