Pfeffer's flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi)

Date taken: January 10, 2016 at 3:24pm
Dive site: Sarena Besar, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia

One of the most spectacular cuttlefish, the flamboyant cuttlefish, is both Wildly colorful and not surprisingly highly venomous (even as much as the blue-ringed octopus!). This small (6-8cm mantel) cephalopod walks the sandy bottom in search of crustaceans and other tasty treats. I've encountered around a dozen of these over dives in both Indonesia and the Philippines and in reviewing my images, I spend quite a bit of time just watching them; there are often minutes between images! I've encountered exactly 11 different flamboyant cuttlefish from my first one on January 14, 2012 to my most recent on December 29, 2016; they're one of my favorites to see. I've seen mostly adults but the sizes vary too from flamboyant cuttlefish eggs (we've seen these twice) to a juvenile only 1-2 cm with the remainder being adults of various sizes. These little ones are just fascinating to watch!

My iNaturalist observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5135960

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasepia_pfefferi