Natures wonder: cuttle fish survival mechanism (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, December 05, 2015, 13:46 (3274 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Now, now, I'm sure that cuttlefish have a means of communication. They do become mammas and poppas. Canoodling requires communication, but I don't think they talk about shark avoidance in any meaningful way.
 
dhw: I reckon my Kevin and Kitty might even recognize threats to their survival, such as that dirty great shark coming to swallow them up. And I reckon they might not only try to find ways not to get swallowed up, but if they found a way, they might even tell their fellow cuttlefish. After all, if animals, birds, insects, and even little bacteria can do it, I reckon Kevin and Kitty can too. Don't you?
 
DAVID: I doubt it. Bacteria have quorum sensing and horizontal gene transfer, run automatically. I doubt if 'cuttlespeak' exists, so they have to show the method as a shark approaches. The uninitiated will get eaten before the method is acted out.-When you doubted whether this canoodling couple talked about shark avoidance, you didn't really mean "talk", did you? By "cuttlespeak" I only meant whatever form of communication they used. Bacteria use quorum sensing (all forms of communication entail automatic procedures), and other organisms use chemicals, sounds, movements etc. I am woefully ignorant of how Kevin and Kitty “whispered” their sweet nothings or spread their glad tidings, but their method clearly worked, as it seems to have caught on in a big way. (I hope they had copyright.) However, I'm sure you are quite right to assume that those who hadn't heard/seen the glad tidings were more liable to be gobbled up than those who hadn't.