---
title: "What the sources say about the Flamboyant Cuttlefish | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "61 claims from the Flamboyant Cuttlefish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Flamboyant Cuttlefish (*Metasepia pfefferi*)

> 61 claims from the Flamboyant Cuttlefish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Flamboyant Cuttlefish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/flamboyant-cuttlefish/)

## Metasepia pfefferi. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Metasepia_pfefferi/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| flashes warning colors to advertise its venom | These bright colors are used to warn other creatures of its venomous nature |
| A Small Cuttlefish That Walks | Metasepia pfefferi is a small cephalopod (note: heading; the walking is claimed in the body from investigating-2016) |
| It grows up to 60 mm (2.4 in) long. | Range length 60 (high) mm 2.36 (high) in (note: ADW's field is a length, not labelled mantle length, so the page no longer calls it the mantle; 2.36 in rounds to 2.4 in) |
| Three pairs of flat flaps, called papillae, cover its eyes. | The dorsal mantle has three pairs of large, flat, flap-like papillae, which cover its eyes |
| Its cuttlebone, which sits inside its body and controls how well it floats, runs about two-thirds to three-quarters the length of the mantle. | The cuttlebone, the defining feature of a cuttlefish, is approximately two thirds to three quarters the length of the mantle ... The internal cuttlebone is used to regulate buoyancy |
| That is small for its body, so it cannot swim for long. | Because the cuttlebone is small relative to the mantle, cuttlefish in general cannot swim very long and generally "walk" along the bottom (note: the "so" is ADW's own "Because"; ADW states the cause for cuttlefish in general, on this species' page, and the sentence applies it to this species, which the general statement includes; the quote's "generally" qualifies the walking and is carried as "usually" in the next sentence) |
| A Flash of Warning Colors | When Metasepia pfefferi is threatened, it quickly change its colors through the manipulation of its chromatophores ... These bright colors are used to warn other creatures of its venomous nature |
| When it feels threatened, the flamboyant cuttlefish quickly changes color. | When Metasepia pfefferi is threatened, it quickly change its colors through the manipulation of its chromatophores |
| It makes black, white and yellow patches on its dark brown skin and turns its arm tips bright red. | It creates black, white and yellow patches on its dark brown skin and turns the tips of its arms bright red |
| These bright colors warn other animals that it is venomous. | These bright colors are used to warn other creatures of its venomous nature |
| It keeps the pattern, waving its protective arm membranes, until it no longer feels threatened. | It will keep this color pattern while waving its protective arm membranes, until it no longer feels threatened |
| Cuttlefish in general fall prey to seals, dolphins and fish | In general, cuttlefish are preyed upon by seals, dolphins and fish |
| they can release ink to confuse a predator and escape | Cuttlefish in general will secrete ink to disorient a predator and escape |
| A male passes packets of sperm to the female with a specialized arm. | Males have a specialized, hectocotyl arm that is used for holding and transferring spermatophores (packets of sperm) into the females buccal areas during mating |
| She lays her eggs one by one in hard-to-reach cracks and crevices, hidden from predators. | the female lays her eggs one by one in hard to reach cracks and crevices to hide and provide protection against predators |
| Its lifespan is estimated at 18 to 24 months, based on what is known about other species in the same family | The lifespan of Metasepia pfefferi is estimated to be between 18 and 24 months based on knowledge of other species in the same family (note: ADW 2011 is the only lifespan source; the sentence keeps "estimated" and its basis) |
| many females die after spawning | many females do not survive post-spawning (note: "die after spawning" paraphrases "do not survive post-spawning") |
| Cuttlefish use an internal cuttlebone to control how well they float. | The internal cuttlebone is used to regulate buoyancy by controlling the gas and liquid that it lets into the chambers of the cuttlebone |
| This one's cuttlebone is small compared with its body, so it cannot swim for long, and it usually "walks" along the seabed instead. | Because the cuttlebone is small relative to the mantle, cuttlefish in general cannot swim very long and generally "walk" along the bottom (note: the "so" is ADW's own "Because"; "usually" is its "generally"; applied to this species from ADW's statement about cuttlefish in general) |
| Its skin holds many chromatophores | The skin contains many chromatophores, which are pigment cells that can be manipulated to change colors |
| Yes, it is venomous. | Metasepia pfefferi is also venomous (note: also what the venomous tag rests on (added in #277), with ADW's 'one of only three known venomous species of cephalopods' and its Negative Impacts field 'injures humans bites or stings'. ADW's glossary defines venomous as an organ capable of injecting a poisonous substance into a wound; the site already tags the blue-ringed octopus's beak bite venomous, so the tag's 'fangs, stingers, spurs, or harpoons' reads as examples) |
| When it feels threatened, it makes black, white and yellow patches on its dark brown skin and turns its arm tips bright red. | When Metasepia pfefferi is threatened, it quickly change its colors through the manipulation of its chromatophores. It creates black, white and yellow patches on its dark brown skin and turns the tips of its arms bright red |
| These bright colors warn other animals about its venom. | These bright colors are used to warn other creatures of its venomous nature |
| It keeps them up until it no longer feels threatened. | It will keep this color pattern while waving its protective arm membranes, until it no longer feels threatened |
| Animal Diversity Web lists it as an animal that can injure people. | Negative Impacts injures humans bites or stings (note: added in the #277 settle so the page states what backs stats.dangerLevel Medium ('Can injure, but rarely seriously'). The wave's pack missed this ADW field, so Low was proposed. ADW's 'it may possibly be able to quickly kill an adult human' is speculation with no case behind it, and a tier goes to Deadly only when a source says people died) |

## Thomas & MacDonald (2016). Investigating body patterning in aquarium-raised flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi). PeerJ.

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2035

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Colors That Travel Across Its Skin | in which the colors on the skin appeared to travel on the animal (note: heading; replaces "A Mantle That Never Stops Rippling": the study found traveling components in 8 of 11 patterns, used frequently, which "never stops" overstated) |
| Bottom-walking cephalopod | M. pfefferi moves throughout its environment in a unique fashion: by "walking" or "ambling" along the bottom |
| sends color waves across its skin | i.e., traveling waves or blinking spots) in which the colors on the skin appeared to travel on the animal |
| Sandy or muddy seafloor in shallow tropical waters under 85 meters deep, around Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia | In the wild, M. pfefferi are found in the tropical, shallow (<85 m) waters around Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. These benthic cephalopods have been observed hunting fish and crustaceans on sandy or muddy substrates (note: the 2016 paper is newer than ADW's 2011 account (3 to 86 m, "southern edge of New Guinea"), and adds Indonesia) |
| Fish and crustaceans hunted on sandy or muddy seafloor | These benthic cephalopods have been observed hunting fish and crustaceans on sandy or muddy substrates |
| In captivity it often sends colors traveling across its mantle, in many kinds of situations. Other cuttlefish are generally seen doing this while hunting or showing aggression. | In other species, these components are generally seen during hunting or aggression, but this population of M. pfefferi uses them frequently during a variety of contexts in their home aquarium (note: "In captivity" carries the study's home-aquarium scope) |
| A 2016 study watched five captive-bred adult flamboyant cuttlefish | This study aimed to identify the dorsally-visible components of the body patterns used by 5 sexually-mature, freely-behaving, F5 generation M. pfefferi in their home aquarium at The Seas in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resorts (note: 2016 is the reference's own publication year; "adult" is "sexually-mature", "captive-bred" is "F5 generation" in a home aquarium) |
| It catalogued dozens of color, texture, posture and movement components, which combined into 11 distinct body patterns. | We found that this population of M. pfefferi use a combination of 7 textural, 14 postural, 7 locomotor and between 42 and 75 chromatic components in their home aquarium. Using maximum likelihood analysis and AutoClass@IJM software, we found that these components combine to generate 11 distinct body patterns |
| Unusually for cuttlefish, 8 of those 11 patterns included colors that seemed to travel across the mantle | Unusually for cuttlefish, 8 of the 11 identified patterns contained at least one "traveling" component (i.e., traveling waves or blinking spots) in which the colors on the skin appeared to travel on the animal |
| Other cuttlefish species are generally seen doing this while hunting or showing aggression. | In other species, these components are generally seen during hunting or aggression |
| These aquarium animals did it often, in many kinds of situations. | this population of M. pfefferi uses them frequently during a variety of contexts in their home aquarium |
| The authors could not say whether wild ones do the same, because so little had been published about their behavior in the wild. | With few published data on the behavior of M. pfefferi in their natural environment, we cannot compare the behavior of the tank-raised individuals in this study to animals in the wild (note: "because so little had been published" paraphrases the source's own causal "With few published data ... we cannot compare"; past tense keeps it a 2016 statement, not a claim about research today) |
| Four zones of traveling color | We also observed 4 distinct regions of "travel" in traveling waves on the mantle |
| Waves, two or three at a time, ran from the front and the back of the mantle to a white square at its center. | a pair of wave sets (each containing 2–3 waves) began at the most anterior point of the mantle and traveled posteriorly to the White square in the center of the mantle. A second pair of wave sets began at the most posterior point of the mantle and traveled anteriorly to the White square |
| Others ran from that square out to the sides, toward the fins. | A third and fourth set began on the right and left sides of the White square and travel laterally towards the finline |
| The study's captive-bred females weighed about 20 grams and the males about 10 grams, at 3 to 4 months old. | This population contained three females (approximate mass: 20 g) and two males (approximate mass: 10 g) 3–4 months of age (note: the only mass source: young, tank-raised F5 animals at Epcot; the sentence keeps that scope and gives no wild weight. battleStats.weightKg: 0.02 rests on this (#277): the same study calls the five 'sexually-mature', so 20 g is an adult mass, if a captive one. Both sexes are Micro (under 0.1 kg), where the name gave it Medium. Not in a curated matchup) |
| along the seafloor on two of its eight arms | The walking arms (Arms IV) are set very wide and the other 6 arms extend further forward than Arms IV |
| Instead it usually walks, or "ambles," | M. pfefferi moves throughout its environment in a unique fashion: by "walking" or "ambling" along the bottom (note: "usually" carries ADW's "generally 'walk' along the bottom"; the study also logged swimming, so the walking is not stated as the only way it moves) |
| Flaps of skin and muscle at the back of its underside, called glutapods, sometimes join in, letting it walk almost like a four-legged animal. | Extensions of the musculature and skin on the posterior, ventral end of the mantle and can be used to help aid in "walking" ... The animal uses the "glutapods" (see above) simultaneously with the walking arms to walk in a tetrapod-like manner |
| In the wild it lives in shallow tropical waters, less than 85 meters deep, around Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. | In the wild, M. pfefferi are found in the tropical, shallow (<85 m) waters around Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia |
| There it hunts fish and crustaceans on sandy or muddy seafloor. | These benthic cephalopods have been observed hunting fish and crustaceans on sandy or muddy substrates (note: also what the predator tag rests on (#277), with ADW's 'Metasepia pfefferi is a predatory animal'. It replaces apex-predator ('no natural predators as adults'), which ADW's 'In general, cuttlefish are preyed upon by seals, dolphins and fish' does not support) |
| It was discovered in 1885 | M. pfefferi was initially discovered in 1885 (Hoyle, 1885) |
| the first sightings of living ones were not reported until 1988 | the first observations of living individuals were not reported until 1988 (Roper & Hochberg, 1988) |
| It walks on two of its eight arms, sometimes helped by flaps of skin and muscle at the back of its underside, called glutapods. | Extensions of the musculature and skin on the posterior, ventral end of the mantle and can be used to help aid in "walking" ... The walking arms (Arms IV) are set very wide and the other 6 arms extend further forward than Arms IV |
| Used together, they let it walk almost like a four-legged animal. | The animal uses the "glutapods" (see above) simultaneously with the walking arms to walk in a tetrapod-like manner |
| pockets of pigment ringed by muscles that nerves control | This organ in the skin consists of a compartment of pigment granules surrounded by neurally-controlled, radial muscle fibers |
| When those muscles expand, the pigment is exposed. | The expansion of these muscle fibers leads to the exposure of the pigment granules |
| When the chromatophores pull back, layers of reflective cells show through, adding iridescent blues and greens and bright whites. | When the chromatophores are retracted, layers of reflective iridophores and leucophores are exposed. These cells are responsible for the iridescent blues and greens (iridophores) and the high contrast whites (leucophores) |
| 2016 study of five captive-bred adults found they combined dozens of color components into 11 distinct body patterns. | 5 sexually-mature, freely-behaving, F5 generation M. pfefferi in their home aquarium ... use a combination of 7 textural, 14 postural, 7 locomotor and between 42 and 75 chromatic components in their home aquarium. Using maximum likelihood analysis and AutoClass@IJM software, we found that these components combine to generate 11 distinct body patterns (note: 2016 is the reference's own publication year) |
| In 8 of them, colors seemed to travel across the mantle. | 8 of the 11 identified patterns contained at least one "traveling" component (i.e., traveling waves or blinking spots) in which the colors on the skin appeared to travel on the animal |
| Other cuttlefish are generally seen doing this while hunting or showing aggression, but these aquarium animals did it often, in many kinds of situations. | In other species, these components are generally seen during hunting or aggression, but this population of M. pfefferi uses them frequently during a variety of contexts in their home aquarium |
| sends sets of two or three color waves in from the front and the back of its mantle to meet at a white square in the middle | a pair of wave sets (each containing 2–3 waves) began at the most anterior point of the mantle and traveled posteriorly to the White square in the center of the mantle. A second pair of wave sets began at the most posterior point of the mantle and traveled anteriorly to the White square (note: vibe.reason, re-paired in task #939 (Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band)) |

## Lupše et al. (2023). Cuttlefishes (Cephalopoda, Sepiidae): the bare bones - an hypothesis of relationships. Marine Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04195-3

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 2023 DNA study of cuttlefish brought back several genus names, including Ascarosepion, and linked Metasepia to it. | Based on a comprehensive analysis of molecular sequence data, the Sepiidae genera Acanthosepion Rochebrune, 1884; Ascarosepion Rochebrune, 1884 ... are here re-instated and formally recognised as valid ... Metasepia Hoyle, 1885 is placed in alternative combination with Ascarosepion (note: 2023 is the reference's own publication year; "linked" says less than "placed in alternative combination", and the page no longer names an Ascarosepion pfefferi the abstract does not) |
| A 2023 study of cuttlefish DNA brought back several genus names as valid, including Ascarosepion. | Based on a comprehensive analysis of molecular sequence data, the Sepiidae genera Acanthosepion Rochebrune, 1884; Ascarosepion Rochebrune, 1884 ... are here re-instated and formally recognised as valid (note: 2023 is the reference's own publication year) |
| It also placed Metasepia "in alternative combination" with Ascarosepion. | Metasepia Hoyle, 1885 is placed in alternative combination with Ascarosepion |

## Barratt & Allcock (2012). Metasepia pfefferi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T162681A943607.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2012-1.rlts.t162681a943607.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN Red List last assessed it in 2009 and lists it as Data Deficient | Metasepia pfefferi has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2009. Metasepia pfefferi is listed as Data Deficient. (note: iucnredlist.org refuses scripts and GBIF holds no category for this taxon, so this quote is a hand read of the assessment page in Chrome (2026-09-14), not verify:quotes-checked text) |