Juvenile Pufferfish

by Darren

I’ve mentioned before that many divers really like critters, the strange little creatures that look like they don’t belong on this planet. This is a juvenile cuttlefish, just a few centimetres across. Even adult cuttlefish can only be identified by dissection of the cuttle post mortem so we’ve no hope of knowing which species this is, but in any case it was delightful to see.

UPDATE: Suzy Walker has been in touch to say that she thinks this is in fact a juvenile puffer fish, and looking at it she’s most probably right. Not sure why I or the guy I dived with that day thought it was a cuttle, but looking at the eye and the little fin it’s really unlikely. Not only that, but as Suzy points out, juvenile cuttlefish look like smaller versions of the adult ones, and I should know – I processed a picture of one last night that’s coming up in a few days time!

Ah, we all have off days sometimes and we all get things wrong. Thanks Suzy for keeping me on the straight and narrow!