Cephalopods in general (not all, but a great many) are skilled color changers. In this prodigious group, giant cuttlefish are perhaps the pinnacle, or at least the most colorful. Some degree of color change is not rare in nature; many animals can modulate their surface color to some extent. Chameleons are the familiar example. But cephalopods are faster and produce a wider range of colors. In the case of large cuttlefish, the entire body is a screen on which patterns are played. The patterns are not just a series of snapshots, but moving shapes, like stripes and clouds. These seem to be
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