Cuttlebone
Mollusca – Cephalopoda
Distribution:
Cuttlebones are the internal shells of cuttles (or cuttlefish). A cuttlebone largely consists of tiny gas-filled chambers that help the cuttle move up and down through the water column, particularly at night when they ascend to catch surface-dwelling fish. Like their relatives, squid and octopus, cuttles have a relatively short lifespan of 18 months to two years.
Did you know?
Some cuttlebones have teeth marks on them that may indicate what marine creature killed and ate the cuttle – a dolphin, sea lion, shark or large bony fish.
In This Section
- Chordates – Animals with backbones
- Invertebrates – Animals without backbones
- Abalone
- Acorn barnacle
- Baler shell
- Blue button sea jelly
- Bluebottle
- Bryozoan
- Bubbler crabs and sand balls
- Chiton
- Cone shell
- Coral
- Cowry shell
- Crab
- Cuttlebone
- Goose barnacle
- Hermit crabs
- Horned ghost crab (Manburr)
- Limpet
- Mud crab
- Mussel
- Periwinkle
- Pipi
- Ram’s horn shell
- Razor clam
- Sand dollars
- Scallop
- Sea hare
- Sea hares
- Sea jelly
- Sea star
- Sea urchin
- Silver-lip pearl oyster
- Sponge
- Tube worm
- Turban snail
- Violet snail
- Marine Pests
- Seagrasses and Algae
- Unusual Finds