Cuttlefish Mimicking a Hermit Crab!!

A couple of weeks ago I came across this little Cuttlefish whilst taking photos of a group of Seahorses at Mae Haad/Koh Ma reef.

When i first saw this i almost ignored it as there are lots of Hermit Crabs out on the sandy area beyond the reef, however, the thing that made me look twice was that this "Hermit Crab" was moving away from me quite a bit faster than the average crab would move.

I decided to take a closer look and was surprised to find that it was in fact a small Cuttlefish apparently mimicking the shape and movements of a Hermit Crab!

Switching the camera onto the video setting, i following the Cuttlefish for a short while, and the longer i watched it, the more convinced i was about this mimicry.

Although a few Octopus species are well known for their ability to mimic other objects or animals, Cuttlefish tend to rely more on camouflage to avoid predators.

Unfortunately, the footage isn't the best (i couldn't get too close and didn't have time to set the white balance), but you can still see the way it uses most of its tentacles to look like legs, flicking them to simulate walking, even though it is actually hovering above the sand.

Towards the end of the clip, when i did manage to get a little closer, you can see how it has stuck two tentacles upwards at the front, just where a Hermit Crab's long "stalked" eyes would be.

The other noticeable feature was that the Cuttlefish had changed colours to create a pale/white "shell" with the "legs" being a redish/brown (although this isn't really clear in the video clip.