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Wild observation of putative dynamic decapod mimicry by a cuttlefish (Sepia cf. smithi)

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Abstract

Stereo baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) are widely used to document diversity, abundance, and biomass of marine wildlife and record unusual behaviours. We observed a cuttlefish appearing to mimic decapod morphology and locomotion during a non-targeted BRUVS study on Australia’s Northwest Shelf. While the pharaoh cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis (Ehrenberg, 1831) is putatively thought to mimic the appearance of a hermit crab in a laboratory setting, our observation is the first wild record of decapod mimicry by a cuttlefish, tentatively identified as Sepia smithi (Hoyle, 1885). In situ observations increase our understanding of how cuttlefish behave in their natural environment while interacting with other species and provide opportunities to further our understanding of the source and breadth of these mimicry.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Mandy Reid, Malacology Collection Manager at the Australian Museum, for her help with a tentative identification of the cuttlefish observed in the BRUVS footage. Our thanks to the Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia (Pty) Ltd. for their support of this project. We thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped improve and clarify this manuscript.

Funding

This research forms part of a PhD thesis funded by the VOGA PhD Scholarship in Rigs-to-Reefs Ecology, awarded to SVE by the University of Western Australia with funds donated by the Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia (Pty) Ltd.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia

    Sean van Elden & Jessica J. Meeuwig

  2. Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia

    Jessica J. Meeuwig

Authors
  1. Sean van Elden
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  2. Jessica J. Meeuwig
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sean van Elden.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Experimental protocols were approved by the University of Western Australia’s Animal Ethics Committee (RA/3/100/1484), and were carried out in accordance with the approved guidelines.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

Authors’ contributions

SVE and JM conceived the manuscript. SVE wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Both authors contributed to the manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Vecchione

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Video imagery of cuttlefish appearing to mimic a decapod while approaching the bait (AVI 171775 kb)

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van Elden, S., Meeuwig, J.J. Wild observation of putative dynamic decapod mimicry by a cuttlefish (Sepia cf. smithi). Mar. Biodivers. 50, 93 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01117-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01117-0

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