Cuttlefish constantly change skin color to hypnotize sea crabs

The exciting moment when the cuttlefish changes its skin color to hypnotize the prey into the camera lens of Blue Planet II filmmakers.

Cuttlefish change color, making the crab's crabs stand still in place.(Video: BBC.)

The footage from BBC's Blue Planet II natural resource program reveals the unique crab hunting strategy of the white-cuttlefish species (Sepia latimanus) in Indonesian waters, the Long Room reported today.

"Its skin contains millions of pigment cells, which can be transformed into a variety of patterns and colors. And obviously the crabs have been hypnotized," explained host David Attenborough.

However, cuttlefish also have enemies that need to look after. " Cuttlefish can be very smart, but sharks are bigger and they eat cuttlefish," Attenborough said. At that time, the cuttlefish must use the skin color changing strategy to soak up the surrounding environment when sharks swim across.

Like octopus, cuttlefish is a good species of imitation. They change color, skin texture and posture to immediately stealth. They can perform complex tentacle movements to catch prey or conduct a pairing ritual.

Previous research on cuttlefish showed that males could make half of their bodies look like females to deceive their opponents. On one side of the body, they simulate the characteristics of the female to prevent potential opponents while on the other side, they exhibit eye-catching masculine colors. This ability allows them to attract partners without fear of being chased away by enemies.

This behavior is common in the Sepia plangon cuttlefish, which is common in the eastern coastal areas of Australia. They do so to increase the chances of pairing in short life, when the number of children exceeds that of males to be constantly competing.