#flamboyant cuttlefish

went to the Shedd Aquarium again and saw many fish friends 🐟🪼🐠🐡🦐

To the flamboyant cuttlefish, the whole ocean floor is a runway! They are named both for their striking coloration and the way they will often 'strut' across the bottom of the ocean. Both of these traits are meant to ward off predators, as they are the only venomous cuttlefish and their flesh is highly poisonous.

It's hard to understand the form of a flamboyant cuttlefish "mermaid" within the glamorous swirling frills. Thankfully, we were able to invite a common cuttlefish to appear alongside him, before she excused herself to camouflage into her surroundings.

Like octopus, cuttlefish people are not mermaids, but are called cecaelias, by humans, or "mirrors" by mermaids. While mermaids evolved from fish and cecaelias evolved from mollusks, they still appear to be humanoid creatures.

What we interpret as the "head" is actually the cacaelia's main body, and the "face" is their back. Rather than evolving humanoid eyes and mouth, they instead use the chromatophores (shifting color cells) to make a pseudoface with which to interact with mermaids, and eventually humans. Their true eyes see out on either side of their head, looking like human ears or mermaid head fins. What serves as "hair" is actually a long membranous frill, that is using for swimming and steering around when not navigating with their long tentacles.

Sprouting from the "head" is the rest of the "body" which is formed entirely of tentacles that split and merge into an imitation of mermaid anatomy.

Instead of two slits for display pouches like mermaids, they have a single slit in the middle of their chest that is somewhat sunken in. This split can be opened to reveal their true mouth: a sharp beak made of chitin.

Below the "chest" is the "waist" and then the "tail," all of which are actually just tentacle arms, much like octopus and squid.