Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "multi-tasking," this 1 minute, 51 second clip shows a cuttlefish stretching its face, finding where it hid its eggs, fertilizing said eggs, maintaining its buoyancy, AND changing colors. Talk about efficient...it took me about 10 minutes just to write that sentence.
Why do cuttlefish engage in face stretching? Well, according to the person who posted the clip, "Cuttlefish store their eggs in coral, and then stretch their tentacles into the coral to fertilise them. It means they stretch their face to about twice its usual length. Really quite spooky."
While I don't think "face stretching" is the scientific term for what the cuttlefish is doing, this little video is just too bizarre and beautiful to pass up.
1. Hey Willy,
I made that video when I was scuba diving in Bali recently - you found it before I even managed to add it to Divehappy!
It's pretty amazing stuff, isn't it? I couldn't believe how unphased the cuttlefish was by three of us hovering nearby - we obviously tried to be as still as possible.
If anyone can tell me the official name for cuttlefish face stretching, I'd appreciate it.
Cheers
Chris
Posted at 10:24AM on Dec 19th 2006 by Chris