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Sensitive Creature

December 11, 2012

Meet the cuttlefish, marine master of disguise. It swims by jet propulsion, has eight arms, great vision, and W-shaped pupils. Cuttlefish, like their relatives octopus and squid, can quickly change their skin colors and patterns to perfectly match their surroundings or communicate to others. Julia Samson, guest investigator in WHOI biologist Aran Mooney’s sensory physiology and sensory ecology lab, is investigating cuttlefish hearing and sensitivity to human-generated sounds in the ocean by observing the creatures’ responses to recorded sounds. (Photo by Julia Samson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)