418 Dive Log Australasia JUNE 2026.pdf

will be eaten immediately she lets them go. She must be vigilant and hold on to them as until they hatch to increase their chances of surviving. So the great cycle of life goes around right before your eyes. This example of an adaptation to help it to survive. In a similar way, the main predator of fish might be a sponge, coral, a Manta Ray or Barnacle, all of which devours eggs by the millions as they are filtered from the water. The environment places enormous pressure on life forms to survive which led to the concept of Natural Selection. Flambuoyant Cuttlefish hatchings We find a single Flambuoyant Cuttlefish egg in a bivalve shell. By a stroke of luck, John was able to get it to hatch right before my camera. I had my 105 mm micro lens with a close up wet lens on. This was perfect for photographing the birth of this Flambuoyant egg. The shots were satisfactory, but I knew I could do better! A few days later, John found another shell with thirteen ripe eggs. We had a golden opportunity. I could see fully developed six millimetre Flambuoyant cuttlefish moving inside the egg. When the eggs were observed, the juvenile use its tail spike to puncture a hole in the egg. It squeezed out half way and then rested. Suddenly, it seemed to pop out and swim off. Its

first reaction was to adopt the attack posture of Sepia and flash its bright vivid colours at me to warn me off. Beautiful! The world expert on Cephalopods, Dr Mark Norman from Australia has confirmed that Flambuoyant cuttlefish have a powerful toxin. It is not Teterodotoxin, as in Blue Ring Octopusses but a completely new, equally powerful toxin. The flesh of these Sepias is inedible. At one second after birth, they were making bright displays to warn off predators. The toxic hatchlings can have a better chance to survive in open water. This is a brilliant example of an adaptation to survive the extreme environmental pressure of predation. Survival of the fittest here means the eggs have protection of toxins! Baby Cuttlefish have fully functioning chromatophores and display warning colours for protection from birth. We observed adult Flambuoyant cuttlefish, Metasepia pfefferi feeding. They like to eat small fish. They have eight legs and two hectocotylus tentacles, which are twice as long. These are used for feeding and mating. At the same time, the flashing colours mesmerize the prey.

Above: The same Flambuoyant Cuttle moments affer escaping from the egg

Above: A Flambuoyant Cutttle moments before escaping from the egg

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Dive Log Australasia #418 June ’26

www.divelog.net.au