Items14The creator’s order
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Giant Pacific octopusEven a big octopus can disappear into a rocky den. In the North Pacific, a pile of empty shells can mark the entrance to one of its hideouts. If an arm reaches out, look for two rows of suckers. They grip surfaces and also let the octopus sense what it touches.0 - 2
Common octopusAround rocky coasts in the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, look for a warty body and stout arms with two rows of suckers. The skin may look gray, yellow-brown, or greenish at different moments. Similar-looking octopuses elsewhere used to be filed under the same name until genetic work…0 - 3
Ascarosepion pfefferiFlamboyant cuttlefish
Watch how it gets across the sand. This little cuttlefish uses its arms and the lower part of its body to walk along the bottom, a gait quite different from the hover of a reef squid. Purple, yellow, and red can ripple across its skin as it moves.0 - 4
Giant cuttlefishGiant Australian cuttlefish
Each southern winter, giant cuttlefish gather in shallow water around Point Lowly in South Australia to breed. Their display can change color, shape, and skin texture in quick succession as males compete for mates. The rocky reefs also provide ledges under which females…0 - 5
Humboldt squidHumboldt squid swim up toward the surface around dusk in parts of the eastern Pacific. When they hunt in groups in darker water, light-producing organs can illuminate the shifting patterns on their skin. The flickering patterns may help the squid signal to one another while feeding, though the…0 - 6
Bigfin reef squidThe nearly full-length fins give this Indo-Pacific squid a broad, pear-shaped outline. It visits shallow reefs and seagrass, often moving over the reef at night to feed. The female fixes her jelly-like egg capsules to firm surfaces such as a mangrove root, stone, or coral.0 - 7
Argonauta argoGreater argonaut
The female carries a thin, fluted egg case as she swims in the open ocean. She can collect a pocket of air at the surface and hold it in the case with her arms. As she dives, the air compresses, helping balance her weight. The egg case has earned her the name paper nautilus,…0 - 8
Common cuttlefishThe narrow fins ripple along both sides of this cuttlefish’s broad mantle. The body can change from stripes to mottled patches, so fin shape is a better starting clue than color. Look for another sign of the animal in shallow waters: clusters of dark egg capsules, which become more transparent as…0 - 9
Sepiola atlanticaAtlantic bobtail squid
This small, rounded animal has two short fins that look like ears. The fins stop well before the ends of the body, unlike the long fringe on a true cuttlefish. It lives in the northeastern Atlantic and can burrow into sand or gravel.0 - 10
Caribbean reef octopusOn a tropical western Atlantic reef, a Caribbean reef octopus spends much of the day in a dark den. After dark its long arms and the web connecting them help it hunt around the reef. It can look blue-green with reddish-brown specks, but it also changes color against the reef.0