Sepioloidea lineolata, the Australian Giant Cuttlefish

This Aussie cuttlefish is the largest cuttlefish species in the world.

Individuals in excess of 5 kg are not uncommon. Every year, from May to August, hundreds of thousands of giant cuttlefish gather in one place to spawn; much to the delight of scientists and divers. The location? Whyalla, a city in south Australia. The ease of access makes these cuttlefish an ideal species to study.

Their large size makes them especially suitable for tagging studies. Dr. Ron O'Dor at Dalhousie University has placed several different types of acoustic tags and tdr (time depth recorder) tags on giant cuttlefish to learn more about their behavior and physiology.

The breeding grounds of these cephalopods are under threat. For more information, see:
http://groups.google.com/group/point-lowly-action
http://groups.google.com/group/cuttlefish-coast-coalition
http://groups.google.com/group/draft-eis-submissions

References and Credits

Credits

Thanks to Dr. Mark Norman for the excellent giant cuttlefish shot that appears at the top of this page.
Geoff Costello has perfected a "secret" method to shoot color balanced video without the use of lights. Geoff grabbed the above images from four hours of mating footage shot at Shell harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

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