Cephalopod dynamic camouflage

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.034
• Publication Date: 2007-06-05T11:11:59Z
• Authors: Roger Hanlon
• Keywords: Camouflage; Cephalopod; Crypsis

Everyone knows what camouflage is and how it works. And many people (some scientists included) think chameleons are the masters of color change. Wrong on both counts. In this primer, I provide an overview of recent work on the mechanisms and principles of rapid adaptive camouflage of cephalopods — octopus, cuttlefish and squids. These strange but capable marine invertebrates can camouflage themselves against almost any background, a feat well appreciated by Aristotle, and one never mastered by any land animal.