The world\u2019s largest cuttlefish \u2013 the aptly named giant cuttlefish\u00a0(Sepia apama) \u2013 can grow to the length of a\u00a0cricket bat\u00a0and weigh as much as a\u00a0corgi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every year, tens of thousands of these massive\u00a0cephalopods<\/a>\u00a0arrive in the waters off Point Lowly, Whyalla, South Australia, to mate.<\/p>\n Giant cuttlefish<\/a> can grow up to 1m in length and can weigh more than 10.5 kg, according to\u00a0Guinness World Records<\/a>. In contrast, one of the world\u2019s smallest cuttlefish \u2013 the adorable\u00a0flamboyant cuttlefish<\/a>\u00a0(Metasepia pfefferi)\u00a0\u2013 is a teensy 8cm long (around the size of a pack of\u00a0playing cards).<\/p>\n Giant cuttlefish are usually solitary but they come together in vast numbers every May and June. They\u2019re all here for one reason: mating season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two male giant cuttlefish fight for the right to mate with a female in the shallow waters just south of Point Lowly in South Australia. Credit: wildestanimal\/Getty Images<\/p>\n It\u2019s a unique phenomenon. These waters off South Australia \u201care the only place in the world where the cuttlefish congregate annually en masse and with such great predictability,\u201d says\u00a0the Department for Environment and Water on its Good Living website.<\/a><\/p>\n When giant cuttlefish come together in such large numbers, you can expect one thing: drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n Males vastly outnumber females: there are sometimes around seven males for every female. Because of this, competition is fierce and males can become embroiled in\u00a0epic fights<\/a>\u00a0with rivals, grappling with each other and spurting clouds of angry black ink into the water around them.<\/p>\n Male giant cuttlefish gather at Point Lowly. Credit: wildestanimal\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The giant cuttlefish also put on trippy light shows. Like octopus<\/a>,\u00a0they\u00a0can change the colour and patterns displayed on their skin in an instant. While this is useful for camouflage<\/a>, they also use this as a way of communicating. Individuals send messages to each other through the vibrant patterns that pulse across their skin.<\/p>\n These signals might be to woo a mate or warn off a rival.<\/p>\n The victor gets the prize of mating with his chosen female. \u201cMating takes place with the cuttlefish linking their eight arms and two tentacles<\/a> for head-to-head contact, with the males slipping their sperm packages into the female\u2019s mouth and fertilising her eggs,\u201d says the\u00a0Whyalla<\/a>\u00a0website. <\/p>\n \u201cThe female lays tear-shaped eggs and attaches them to the underside of the rocky ledges and in rock cavities where they hatch three to five months later.\u201d<\/p>\n Giant cuttlefish mating. Credit: wildestanimal\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Wildlife lovers can witness this astonishing phenomenon as it\u2019s possible to dive or snorkel with the giant cuttlefish during mating season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, anyone lucky enough to witness this incredible show should make sure they\u2019re not disturbing the animals. The Department for Environment and Water advises: \u201cRemember to respect their space \u2013 look but don\u2019t touch. If they react to your presence, ensure your retreat. After all, it\u2019s next year\u2019s population that are being produced at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s largest cuttlefish \u2013 the aptly named giant cuttlefish\u00a0(Sepia apama) \u2013 can grow to the length of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-586273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}