Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Superorder: Decapodiformes

Order: Sepiida

Family: Sepiolidae

Scientific name: Rossia glaucopis

 

Norwegian: -

(Flakk - The Trondheim fjord / 18 meters / 1.18.2003)

Distribution: This ten-armed cuttlefish is quite common along the entire coast of Norway. It prefers sandy or muddy substrate where it hides, partially buried, waiting for its prey. According to the literature it is most frequent below 50 meters, but my observations are from approximately 15-30 meters in the Trondheim fjord.

Characteristics: The mantle, less than 8 cm in length, does not constitute more than one third of the total body length. It has a fine pattern of small pigmented spots. The color is often dark red when the pigment is activated. Below you can se two pictures taken with only a few seconds interval. When I first encountered it, it was white. Intimidated by the huge diver it tried to hide by changing its color to red. Remember red is excellent camouflage on a location with no natural red light.

All pictures: