Cataloging Body Patterning in the Dwarf Cuttlefish (Sepia bandensis)

Cephalopods use dynamic camouflage to blend in with their environment, communicate with conspecifics, and mimic other animals by changing their skin’s color, texture, pattern, and shape. Past studies have cataloged common body patterns presented by various cephalopod species to gain insight into the evolution and function of these patterns in the natural environment. The common (Sepia officinalis), pharaoh (Sepia pharaonis), and flamboyant (Metasepia pfefferi) cuttlefish are three of the previously studied species and demonstrate that differences in habitat, physical size, and evolutionary history may influence the capacity and usage of body patterning. We studied the body patterns of an additional cuttlefish species, the dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia bandensis), to investigate further what aspects of ecology or behavior may influence body patterning in cuttlefish. We captured still images and video recordings of individually housed dwarf cuttlefish and analyzed them to catalog the body pattern components displayed. We utilized a quantitative approach to determine body patterns through a maximum likelihood analysis program (AutoClass C). We identified 79 distinct body pattern components, including 8 newly described components, and 7 overall body patterns. Our findings on the body patterning behavior of the dwarf cuttlefish add to a growing database of cephalopod display patterns for future studies and provide insight into the ecological and evolutionary drivers of dynamic camouflage in cephalopods.