The bigfin reef squid’s use of different habitats calls for multiple camouflage strategies.
In a study published inrecently, collaborators from the University of Minnesota Duluth and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate Studies in Japan experimented with the bigfin reef squid’s camouflaging abilities in the lab. They constructed a fiberglass tank and divided the bottom to make a blue background and a green, algae-filled background to mimic the species’ various habitats.
The recordings showed that the squid tweaked their body color each time they moved between the blue background and the green background. In a few cases, they made the adjustment in just a fraction of a second. They also didn’t stop swimming as they changed hues: The animals logged an average velocity of .16 meters per second as they kicked their chromatophores into gear.
The authors of the study noted a number of similarities in differences between the bigfin reef squid and other pigment-producing cephalopods. For one, they hypothesize the squid could be anticipating the different backgrounds, based on how quickly some individuals adapted while crossing from blue to green and green to blue. This is
while traveling around benthic environments. But the researchers also point out that the squid might have camouflaged more quickly in the tank because of heightened social interactions.Most importantly, the team concluded that the species activates its color-changing powers in two ways: with a see-through body and internal pigment factories. Previously, marine biologists had thought squid only depended on glassy skin, not chromatophores, to blend into their surroundings.
The squid species has “a rare combination of semitransparency and the ability to change body color via chromatophores , which enables it to successfully inhabit both pelagic and reef environments,” the authors wrote in their paper. “Therefore, it represents an attractive model organism for studying the ecology, evolution, and neurobiology of versatile, dynamic camouflage.”Credit:Purbita Saha is the Deputy Editor at Popular Science.
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