cuttlefish

noun cut·tle·fish \ ˈkə-tᵊl-ˌfish \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of cuttlefish

: any of various marine cephalopod mollusks (order Sepioidea, especially genus Sepia) having eight short arms and two usually longer tentacles and differing from the related squid in having a calcified internal shell

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Recent Examples of cuttlefish from the Web

Her team recorded nerve signals from three cephalopod species: a cuttlefish and two species of octopus.

— danna staaf, Science | AAAS, "How to put an octopus to sleep—and make cephalopod research more humane," 4 Apr. 2018
Ultimately the study may offer a path toward understanding other mysteries about cuttlefish.

— New York Times, "The Cuttlefish, a Master of Camouflage, Reveals a New Trick," 15 Feb. 2018
Kohei Okamoto and his research team hypothesized that the cuttlefish may be emulating hermit crabs in order to inconspicuously approach their prey or protect themselves against predators.

— hannah lang, National Geographic, "Cuttlefish Pretend to be Crabs to Catch More Fish," 8 June 2017
An inky battle ensued, and the researchers caught it all on video—the first record of cuttlefish competing for a mate in the wild.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Watch Two Cuttlefish Fiercely Battle Over a Mate," 3 May 2017
Camouflage is nothing new for cuttlefish and other members of the cephalopod family.

— hannah lang, National Geographic, "Cuttlefish Pretend to be Crabs to Catch More Fish," 8 June 2017
Cephalopods, which include octopi, cuttlefish, and squid, belong to the Mollusca phylum, are chiefly identified by their tentacles.

— colin dickey, New Republic, "When Squid Ruled the Earth," 21 Sep. 2017
At night, the beams of our lights revealed slithering sea snakes, translucent cuttlefish, and striped orange and yellow nudibranchs, slugs that looked like jewels.

— james sturz, WSJ, "3 Ways to Dive the Great Barrier Reef, From Affordable to Epic," 4 Aug. 2017
Brixham, meanwhile, has been thriving thanks to tourism and the cuttlefish and squid from the English Channel, with 70 percent of its produce going to other EU countries.

— hannah george, Bloomberg.com, "Brexit Hopes Fade for Some Who Want It So Badly," 31 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cuttlefish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.