Flamboyant Cuttlefish

Photo: Mark Rosenstein · CC BY-NC

Flamboyant cuttlefish — the most visually dramatic of all cephalopods — stalk prey across the sandy substrate between Maumere's wrecks, their bodies pulsing with waves of amber, white, and deep maroon that advertise their extreme toxicity to predators. Unlike most cuttlefish that swim freely, the flamboyant cuttlefish primarily walks on modified arm tips, making its foraging behavior slow enough to observe in extraordinary detail. The sandy bay floor between the wrecks is prime habitat, and patient divers willing to spend bottom time in the sand rather than on the wreck superstructure are reliably rewarded.