PAUL THE CUTTLEFISH

Paul the cuttlefish, was a happy young cuttlefish, he was born in a litter of 213 other cuttlefish. Most of his brothers and sisters swam around the ocean. He was the last to hatch.

• Paul the cuttlefish, was a happy young cuttlefish, he was born in a litter of 213 other cuttlefish. Most of his brothers and sisters swam around the ocean

After he was born he swam looking for food to eat. He found a small shrimp. When he saw the shrimp, he tried to use his tentacles to catch it but it got away.

He swam around the ocean trying to catch shrimp and fish, but he could not catch any.

He saw another cuttlefish but bigger and all grown up. The grown up cuttlefish disappeared right before Paul's big blue eyes.

After looking closer, Paul saw the big cuttlefish's eyes in the coral. He had camouflaged into the sand becoming almost invisible! Paul watched as the big cuttlefish caught a crab with his tentacles since the crab could not see him either.

The cuttlefish pulled the crab towards his beak and ate it. When the big cuttlefish left, he ate the rest of the crab that the big cuttlefish didn't eat.

Paul swam around the deep blue sea to practice camouflaging with shells and coral. He learned that his skin had evolved to camouflage better than other cuttlefish!

He came across his brothers from his litter. Most of them were never able to catch food at all. The ones that lived struggled to catch food. His camouflage was so advanced!

As time went on, Paul was able to have children and continue his family. His awesome camouflage traits passed on to his children. All of his children were able to blend into their surroundings better than other cuttlefish and they lived happily ever after.

DID YOU KNOW...

• 1. Cuttlefish are colorblind 2. Cuttlefish have a "cuttlebone" that helps them float 3. They have beaks like a bird 4. Their lifespan is around 3 years 5. They eat fish, crabs, and shrimp 6. Their skin has "chromatophores" which are small colored cells that grow and shrink to help them change colors. There are 200 chromatophores per square millimeter of skin. 7. They have an ink sack like an Octopus

WORKS CITED

• NOVA; Kings of Camouflage. Pbs, March 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/camo/anat-nf.html. Accessed May 14th, 2017.
• Cuttlefish. A-Z Animals, Updated January 9th, 2017. Http://a-z-animals.com/animals/cuttlefish/. Accessed May 5th, 2017.