A season of dancing, light displays and flirtatious shenanigans is on the cards for the cephalopods
A DAZZLING LIGHT SHOW THAT WOULD outdo any nightclub takes place every spring along the UK’s southern and western coasts. The annual shindig is when common cuttlefish breed – and they like to do it in style. Having spent most of the year lurking further offshore, crowds of cuttlefish now head to the shallows to cavort and (hopefully) get lucky.
As rival males whoosh to and fro, they communicate their status and intentions with mesmerising pulses of colour that sweep across their skin. They also send signals by adjusting their silhouette using their eight arms, paired tentacles and frilly fins. Females also indicate their own mood with complex gestures and light displays.
Common cuttlefish are cephalopods, and, like their octopus and squid relatives, have very special skin. It is packed with cells called chromatophores, bags of pigment that can expand or contract in a flash to transform the animals’ colour. The effect is hypnotic (and also deployed to startle prey). Cuttlefish courtship is arguably one of Britain’s great wildlife spectacles, yet a few hardy divers are the only people lucky enough to witness it in the flesh.