Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) are intelligent animals, just like their octopus relatives. They have one of the largest brain-to-body ratios of any invertebrate! Cuttlefish change color and pattern to communicate to other cuttlefish, to camouflage themselves and to warn off potential predators. See video of a cuttlefish changing colors.

FUN FACT: The word sepia (who hasn’t see a sepia toned photo?) comes from Sepiidae, due to the color of cuttlefish ink. Cuttlefish dine on crabs and fish as adults, hatchlings eat small shrimp. They shoot a jet of water to uncover prey buried in substrate. As the prey attempts to flee, cuttlefish open their eight arms and shoot out two long sucker-laden feeding tentacles. [Watch this action in crisp, super-slow-motion video!]





What’s so amazing about cuttlefish? How about a little something called cuttlebone. The cuttlebone, unique to cuttlefish, is porous and made of aragonite, a polymorph of calcium carbonate. Each species' cuttlebone has a distinct shape, size, and pattern, but they all serve the same purpose, buoyancy control. Cuttlefish regulate buoyancy by controlling the gas-to-liquid ratio in the chambers of their cuttlebone via the ventral siphuncle. You may have already seen a cuttlebone before. Pet birds use them for a natural, inexpensive source of calcium carbonate as well as other trace minerals. Jewelers and silversmiths have also used cuttlebone to cast molds.





Cuttlefish inhabit the shallow waters of tropical and temperate oceans. They have been observed venturing to depths of about 600 meters. They have an unusual biogeographic pattern involving total absence from the Americas. They are abundant in Africa and Australia, as well as Eastern and Southern Asia, Western Europe, and the Mediterranean. While the common cuttlefish is heavily fished in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, its populations appear to be stable.


Ponder this climate change concern as you observe these amazing cephalopods in their level one exhibit. They're the ones with the eight arms and two tentacles. They share their exhibit with young epaulette sharks, urchins and other warm water animals.

— Caitlin Soden, Aquarium educator

Many people think about ocean animals when they imagine exhibits at the Aquarium — like sea turtles and stingrays and seals. But there are hundreds of freshwater animals at the Aquarium, too! Explore the teeming Flooded Amazon exhibit at the Aquarium and you'll see animals of all shapes and sizes.



The large window reaches almost to the floor, giving even the smallest visitors a great view of the exhibit. All the Amazon Rainforest exhibits together hold more than 4,500 gallons of water!



The Amazon rainforest is one of the most diverse habitats in the world. The forests, rivers and lakes are home to uncountable numbers of species, including animals and plants that have yet to be discovered. The New England Aquarium’s Amazon exhibits feature hundreds of live plants and life-like fiberglass replicas of gigantic rainforest trees, vines and termite mounds.

While families pick over leftovers and some brave crowds in the shops, we wanted to share a nice quite moment of zen from the... piranha. That's right, those toothy freshwater fish from the Amazon!



Piranha are often associated with feeding frenzies (and we're not talking about the Thanksgiving dinner table). But here at the Aquarium you'll find them peacefully swimming through their Amazon Rainforest exhibit more often than not.



As we learned in this post, these red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) like to snack on insects, worms and small fish. They have been known to bark when there's competition for food, but most of the time they're very "well behaved"—as you can see in the video above!

While friends and families across the country are preparing to feast on Thanksgiving favorites, let's take a moment to see how other animals eat. Even thought the Aquarium is closed for the day, Myrtle still gets to graze on squid and lettuce. The seals snack on herring, smelts and squid. Of course, the smaller animals eat, too.



Just because they don't have teeth doesn't mean that sea jellies don't eat! This video shows beroe jellies eating other jellies. Watch how they swim along and engulf smaller ones. Once in their "belly," enzymes and muscular contractions help break down the food. Beroe jellies have been known to eat other jellies nearly half their size!



Comb jellies are also noted for the cilia, or tiny arms, which propel the animal through the water. The constant wave motion of the cilia give off an iridescent sparkle. Come by the Aquarium this weekend, perhaps the twinkle of the comb jellies will put you in the holiday spirit!