Mondo Knows Facts
Cuttlefish change skin colour and texture in less than a second
Thousands of pigment cells controlled directly by nerves alter cuttlefish skin.
Cuttlefish possess tiny elastic pigment sacs called chromatophores connected to radial muscles under neural control. By expanding or contracting these sacs alongside reflective iridophores, cuttlefish project dynamic moving colour patterns and 3D skin textures for camouflage.
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Tags: cuttlefish, ocean, camouflage
Cuttlefish change skin colour and texture in less than a second: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Thousands of pigment cells controlled directly by nerves alter cuttlefish skin. The figure is taken from Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.