The cephalopod that paints its own skin.
I'm talking about the cuttlefish, master of disguise. The fish has 4 waves; the upward wave is often used for courtship or friendly recognition. The horizontal side wave is used as a warning signal or in territorial displays. A wave that rolls across its body like a rotating cylinder is used in dominance or for intimidation. They are known as the chameleons of the sea because they can change color, patterns, texture, & shape (slightly), & they can do all this in less than a 10th of a second. They can mimic sand, pebbles, seaweed, coral, shadows, stripes, spots, ripples & even sunlight. They're actually better than chameleons because they can change texture, not just color.
Their colors, yellow, red & brown, are not due to pigments. The color is created by light physics, not dye. The pigment sacs called chromatophores expand or shrink like balloons to produce those 3 colors. In addition, they have iridophores that function like oil slicks or soap bubbles. Light hits them & splits into blue, green, pink, purple, or metallic rainbow-shimmering colors. Also, they have white reflectors called leucophores that reflect all light, making white patches or simply boosting brightness. Like octopuses, they have 8 arms with their own independent nervous systems. This means arms can explore objects without the main brain's help. Arms can make decisions like "grab this" or "don't grab that." It's like having 8 smart assistants attached to your body.
Cuttlefish skin is ultrasensitive, detecting light, adjusting colors, changing patterns, & responding faster than its brain can. They can see polarized light, which is light waves aligned in one direction. Humans can't see it. But this lets them spot prey hiding in sand, see reflections invisible to us & communicate secretly with other cuttlefish. It's like having built-in polarized sunglasses. When cuttlefish flash moving black & white stripes at shrimp or fish, it creates a hypnotic effect, making prey freeze & become confused, & suddenly the cuttlefish strikes. Some small cuttlefish males disguise themselves as females, hiding their male patterns. They slip past the bigger males & they sneak mating with the female secretly. They are quite intelligent, able to learn patterns, remember shapes, navigate mazes & solve problems. And they hover like a drone.
