The Fabulous Flamboyant Cuttlefish show off their amazing colours to our guests regularly here on Lembeh. These tiny creatures have a huge presence and are always a delight to see on every dive! These great shots were taken by our guests, Kevin and Sim and Manuel.
The Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Metasepia pfefferi is also known as Pfefferi’s Flamboyant Cuttlefish. They can be found at depths ranging from 3 metres to 90 metres.They feed on fish and crustaceans and grow to an average size of 7cm or 3 inches in length.
The Flamboyant Cuttlefish is not a fish at all, in fact, it is a Cephalopod and is one of only 3 poisonous Cephalopods. Along with having the ability to alter the colour and texture of their skin for camouflage, they also have another weapon against predators. The flesh of the Flamboyant Cuttlefish contains acids which are highly toxic and therefore make them unsuitable for consumption.
As for reproduction, they mate face to face. The male inserts a packet of sperm into the underside of the female’s mantle, the female fertilises the eggs and then places them in crevices of coral or rock. They have extremely good eyesight, a very powerful brain and tentacles as dexterous as the human hand. We are very fortunate to see so many of these beautiful creatures here in Lembeh Strait.
Also seen this week in Lembeh, were the Mimic Octopus, Wunderpus Octopus, Bobbit Worm, Painted Frog Fish, Banded Sea Snake and so much more! It has been quite a damp dry season so far but the water is slowly cooling down so we should be seeing even more of the fabulous Cephalopods in the near future!
This week Mark introduced Wenting to the world of Enriched Air Diving. She can look forward to longer bottom times – at the expense of a reduced Maximum Operating Depth (MOD) of course! The Nitrox course is just one of many great courses we can offer here on Lembeh.
Our guests this week were from Singapore, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
Happy Bubbles!