The Color-Changing Ability
of the Cuttlefish
CUTTLEFISH can change
their color and camouflage
themselves, becoming
almost invisible to the human
eye. According to one report,
cuttlefish “are known to have
a diverse range of body
patterns and they can switch
between them almost
instantaneously.” How do
cuttlefish do it?
Consider: The cuttlefish
changes color by using the
chromatophore, a special
kind of cell found under its
skin. Chromatophores
contain sacs that are full of
colored pigment and that are
surrounded by tiny muscles.
When the cuttlefish needs to
camouflage itself, its brain
sends a signal to contract the
muscles around the sacs.
Then the sacs and the
pigment within them expand,
and the cuttlefish quickly
changes its color and
pattern. The cuttlefish may
use this skill not only for
camouflage but also to
impress potential mates and
perhaps communicate.
Engineers at the University of
Bristol, England, built an
artificial cuttlefish skin. They
sandwiched disks of black
rubber between small
devices that function like
cuttlefish muscles. When the
researchers applied
electricity to the skin, the
devices flattened and
expanded the black disks,
darkening and changing the
color of the artificial skin.
Research on cuttlefish
muscles—“the soft structures
that nature is so good at
making,” according to
engineer Jonathan Rossiter—
could lead to clothing that
changes color in a fraction of
a second. Rossiter says that
people might wear cuttlefish-
inspired clothes for
camouflage—or simply for
fashion.
What do you think? Did the
ability of cuttlefish to change
color come about by
evolution? Or was it
designed?