Some consider cephalopods to be the smartest of all invertebrates. Something that you may not know is that cephalopods are colour blind. This may impress you, considering the skilled texture alterations and colour camouflage techniques of resident Sydney cephalopods. Octopi are all born with their feet attached to their heads. Even their Class name refers to their awesome evolutionary trait – ‘Cephalopod’ literally translates to ‘head-foot’.
Imagine if you could take a quick look at your surroundings and instantly change the pattern of your skin to match it. You’d be virtually invisible.The skin of a cuttlefish is covered with tiny coloured cells that can be individually adjusted to create just about any colour in the spectrum. It acts just like a thought- controlled TV screen.
There are three species of cuttlefish in Sydney; two little ones and one giant (cleverly named the giant cuttlefish). It's easy to identify the big one, but the other two are not always so easy to distinguish.
The Italian word ‘calamari’ means ‘cooked squid’. So, understandably, there was uproar in the Sydney squid community when the naming guy decided to call the main local species ‘Southern Calamari.’ It’s like calling a breed of cows ‘Roast Beef’.
The naming guy was having a good day (for once) when he named the Striped Pyjama Squid – it’s a squid and it looks like it’s wearing striped pyjamas. They are one of the hardest creatures to spot in Sydney Harbour as they’re only about 5cm long and, not surprisingly, only like to come out at night.