Cuttlefish Cuties: Photos of Color-Changing Cephalopods

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | February 14, 2012 07:01pm ET

Can you see me?

A giant Australian cuttlefish blends in with its surroundings.

Sandy Cuttlefish

A Sepia offcinalis cuttlefish blends into a sandy background.

Cuttlefish Camo

A cuttlefish takes on a "blocky" camouflage pattern on a background of white circles, both complete and incomplete. When the circle fragments are scrambled, the cuttlefish takes on a camo pattern more fitting for small-scale, sandy type backgrounds.

Disruptive Camouflage

A "disruptive" camouflage pattern used by cuttlefish to blend into "chunky" backgrounds.

Pebble Pattern

A smaller-scale camouflage pattern for blending into smaller pebbles.

Rainbow Tentacles

A close-up on the color-changing cells of a giant Australian cuttlefish.

Colorful Camouflage

Cuttlefish are colorblind, but their reflective and color-changing cells can match many backgrounds in their environment.

Being Brown

A giant Australian cuttlefish takes on a brownish hue for camouflage.

Blue Around the Edges

A giant Australian cuttlefish hovers above the seafloor.

Author Bio

Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor: Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science. She covers the world of human and animal behavior, as well as paleontology and other science topics. Stephanie has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has ducked under a glacier in Switzerland and poked hot lava with a stick in Hawaii. Stephanie hails from East Tennessee, the global center for salamander diversity. Follow Stephanie on Google+.; Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor on

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