Female ink creates fake testicles to avoid being attacked

Live squids in the eastern Pacific Ocean have a way of effectively protecting themselves against the attack of male squid.

Like other cuttlefish and other relatives, Doryteuthis opalescents possess cells that change color to camouflage and communicate with each other. But researchers at the University of Santa Barbara in California, USA, discovered that opalescent squid species have cells to form a shimmering band under the fin .

Camouflage camouflage is quite perfect to avoid attack.(Photo: Natgeo)

According to Daniel DeMartini, a doctoral student at the University of Santa Barbara, these patterns are only found in children. The reason is that they have iridocytes , the type of cells that produce iridescent strips. These strips of fiber combine with proteins that can change with light making them even brighter.

When these color patterns float, the body of the ink also floats white patches, because leucophore cells only produce white color. This white array makes the male ink mistakenly believe to be testicles. This is the trick used by ink to avoid aggressive male squid.

According to Live Science, scientists are studying the ability of cells to change color in order to find an adaptive optical model with biomagnetic sensors. They attached cameras on the squid's body to capture the change in the color of the fins in its habitat.