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photos of cephalopods
(octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus)
To see more cephalopod
pictures, click here
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high resolution photo of Caribbean Reef octopus hunting at night
behavior |
mimic octopus mimicking poisonous seasnake horizontal underwater
image |
big fin reef squid portrait tropical Indo Pacific Ocean photograph |
model released scuba diver interacts with pacific giant octopus |
day octopus underwater picture for sale, tiff or jpeg available for
licensing |
Flamboyant Cuttlefish picture, small cephalopod, photo taken in
Indonesia |
chambered nautilus hires stock photo a primitive deep sea cephalopod |
pacific giant octopus, female guarding eggs, will die soon after
they hatch |
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common
name |
various
species |
| scientific
name |
various
species |
| range |
worlwide
marine, tropical to polar |
viewing
hotspots |
numerous |
| habitat |
all |
| size |
tiny
to huge (20' tentacle span) |
| diet |
carnivorous,
lots of crustaceans, molluscs |
| trivia |
not all have 8
arms or tentacles! some have shells! some are poisonous! |
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Cephalopod is Greek for
"head foot", referring to fact that these amazing
invertebrates have their limbs (feet, or arms, your choice) attached
to their heads... A rather unusual arrangement for us, but a
strategy that seems to have worked well for them. Octopuses, squids,
cuttlefish, and nautiluses are all members of this strange
assemblage consisting of hundreds of different species large and
small.
A few classic, more recognizable examples,
include the Giant Pacific Octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, found in
the cool waters of the northern Pacific; the Caribbean Reef Squid,
Sepioteuthis sepioidea, a colorful, animated 6 inch long creature
common on coral reefs; the Broadclub Cuttlefish, Sepia
latimanus, wide-spread and commonly sighted by scuba divers in the
Indo-Pacific Ocean, and the chambered Emperor Nautilus, Nautilus
pompilius, a 90-tentacled evolutionary throwback which inhabits deep
water.
It is difficult to make generalizations
about a group so broad, but most share a number of common features.
Most cephalopods are fast growing, living only a year or two. Most
species have three hearts. Many have limbs with suckers. Most can
squirt a cloud of ink as a defensive mechanism to help avoid
predators. Most can change the colors, and textures, of their skin,
resulting in remarkable camouflage and mimicry behaviors. Most have
large, well-developed eyes, which show many similarities to
vertebrates. All have a beak, similar to that of a parrot. All have
blue blood, due to a copper-based respiratory pigment.
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| KEYWORDS
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octopus, mimic, mimicry, sea snake, sea, snake, defense mechanism, Bigfin Reef Squid,
bigfin reef squids, bigfin, reef, squid, squids, Sepioteuthis lessoniana,
Day Octopus, Octopus cyanea, tentacle, tentacles, sucker, suckers, day,
Flamboyant Cuttlefish, flamboyant, cuttlefish, cuttle, fish, Metasepia
pfefferi, Chambered Nautilus, chambered, nautilus, Nautilus pompilius,
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picture, pictures, stock, photography, marine, underwater |
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