Why Do Cephalopods Change Color?

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is the most well known form of camouflage. This is when the animal changes its color and texture to match as closely as possible that of its background. As well as simply trying to blend into a background, some cephalopods will attempt to make themselves appear like a specific object in their environments; this is termed deceptive resemblance. Disruptive patterning is seen in many creatures as well as cephalopods and serves to break up the outline of the animal to confuse predators. It involves the chromatophores which are used to create sharply contrasting patterns on the body, often wide stripes or spots. Counter shading is used to help a cephalopod blend in when there is no substrate against which to match itself. For instance, squid that spend much of their time in midwater rather than on or near the bottom can be seen easily by predators from below. Deimatic behavior is often used when camouflage fails and the cephalopod is still threatened. It involves changing rapidly ...

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