The astounding-sounding expounding surrounding cuttlefish

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the unique features and characteristics of cuttlefish, exploring their biology and behavior. Participants share information and personal insights, aiming to compile a comprehensive list of cuttlefish attributes for a related engineering challenge.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that cuttlefish have an internal calcium carbonate shell and questions if it includes buoyancy chambers.
  • Another mentions their large eyes and eight legs, along with two tentacles that can inflate quickly to catch prey.
  • It is proposed that cuttlefish can change their skin color for camouflage, communication, and to disorient prey.
  • Participants discuss the fin that extends around the body, allowing for versatile movement.
  • One participant states that cuttlefish have ink, presumably for evading predators.
  • There is a question about whether cuttlefish are high on latent inhibition, though some express uncertainty about the term.
  • Another participant expresses a personal enthusiasm for cephalopods, suggesting that they are the best invertebrates.
  • One participant recalls doing a report on cuttlefish in the past, indicating a personal connection to the topic.
  • Several participants share links to external resources for further information on cephalopods.
  • There is a mention of the expectation that popular websites like Wikipedia and Discovery Channel would have information on cuttlefish, but the responses received were not satisfactory.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion includes a variety of viewpoints and information, with no clear consensus on all aspects of cuttlefish features. Some participants express enthusiasm for cephalopods, while others focus on specific characteristics or seek further information.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various features and behaviors of cuttlefish without confirming all details, indicating potential gaps in knowledge or assumptions about their biology.

honestrosewater
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I usually don't get so excited about cephalopods, but these cuttlefish are something special. I saw them on a show last night and think they have one of the most interesting set of features I've ever seen in a single organism. I'm trying to collect a list of all of their features here, so please tell me anything you know about them. When the list is done, I'm taking it to the engineering forum for a watchmaker challenge.
Here are some things I have so far; They're mostly from memory, so please correct them or expand on any feature I mention if you have more details.

Internal calcium carbonate shell (with buoyancy chambers?)
Large eyes
Eight legs
Two liquid-filled tentacles with suckers; inflated very quickly to catch prey
Can change their skin color as camouflage from predators, to disorient prey, and communicate with each other.
One fin extending around their body allows them to move up/down, front/back, side/side easily.
Have ink (for evading predators?)

I know there's more, just can't recall now...
 
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Are they high on latent inhibition?
 
hitssquad said:
Are they high on latent inhibition?
I don't know; I haven't read about it yet. I stopped to figure out what being loaded meant and got distracted.
 
honestrosewater said:
I usually don't get so excited about cephalopods

Why on Earth not? Cephalopods are by far the best invertebrates in my oppinion :biggrin:
Pacific reef squid can also change colour almost instantly. It is believed that it is used as a form of communication by them.
 
Okay, maybe I'm on my own on this one. But if anyone's interested in this kind of stuff, I think cuttlefish are worth checking out. :smile:
 
Aren't cuttlefish strictly salt water animals?

~Kitty
 
I did a 1st grade report on cuttlefish :rolleyes:
 
Aw rats, I had a bookmark for an excellent cephalopod website and it's on my old laptop.

This is an excellent site HRW, this has just about everything you'd ever want to know as well as links to other ceph sites.

http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/
 
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Evo said:
Aw rats, I had a bookmark for an excellent cephalopod website and it's on my old laptop.

This is an excellent site HRW, this has just about everything you'd ever want to know as well as links to other ceph sites.

http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/
Woohoo! Thanks, I'll check it out. I hadn't been able to find any decent sites.
 
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  • #10
I would have thought that the discoverychannel.cm or wikipedia.com would have had some information about the cuttlefish. Did you check those sites?

~Kitty
 
  • #11
misskitty said:
I would have thought that the discoverychannel.cm or wikipedia.com would have had some information about the cuttlefish. Did you check those sites?

~Kitty
Yeah, wiki had basically the same info as the show, and discovery didn't have anything. I'm not finished searching though; I've just been busy, and this near the end of my list.
 

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