Now you see it. Now you don?t. A leopard might not change its spots but a cuttlefish sure can ? spots, stripes, chequers, even complex pebble patterns octopuses
and squid ? can change their appearance with a speed and diversity unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Click here
to see a video.
The creatures manage these extravagant switches while being totally colour-blind, it turns out. Researchers at the Marine Biology Laboratory
at Woods Hole in the US, showed that despite this, cuttlefish were able to detect contrast differences of at least 15%.
The team is now testing a variety of optical clues, such as cuttlefish perception of object edges, brightness and sizes of objects. They certainly put flak-jacket designers to shame ? and they can see in colour!