#chromatophores
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cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
Not so shrimple now?

🦑📷 Rickard Zerpe
A Berry's bobtail squid (Euprymna berryi) on the sea floor holding on to a shrimp. The shrimp is light orange, and the bobtail squid has translucent skin with maroon chromatophores all over, with blue iridescent areas around its eyes.
February 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
cervixkisser.bsky.social
Fish autism fact:

A ton of fish have chromatophores, which allow them to change colour and the majority do it as a mood indicator!
February 6, 2026 at 9:12 AM
carniekisses.bsky.social
recycling an alien character i had laying around because I want to put her in my scifi setting i think
Alien character inspired by reptiles, especially chameleons. Text says: "Marla Moog, she/her, 6'0, frontwoman and singer of 'The Freaquencies'" Below that, it reads: "The surface of Marla's epidermis is lined with chromatophores; they allow her to change colors and patterns wildly and quickly"
February 2, 2026 at 12:11 AM
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
Bobtail squids burying themselves got to be one of the cutest things in the world.

🦑📷Lawrence Hylton (inaturalist.ca/observations...)
A Southern Bobtail Squid (Euprymna tasmanica) in the process of of burying itself. It is almost entirely covered in sand, with only its eye and two arms being visible. Its two arms are raised and curved above it, as it is shovelling sand onto its head and mantle. Its suckers a visible and its arms are translucent and have yellow and black chromatophores. around its eye is white, but the rest of its head is dark blue with blue and cyan iridophores. In addition to t the sand, there is a rock (or perhaps part of a tile) that is resting against its head. It is white like quartz but has purple on its front.
February 1, 2026 at 7:45 PM
tuexplorer1.bsky.social
Idk if this is a different Cranchiid or the same as the post before. The chromatophores are showing nicely. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 895 #livingbioreactors #MarineLife
January 26, 2026 at 3:39 PM
coralcitycamera.bsky.social
For your consideration: 2 mins of an octopus navigating a swift current 〰️🐙〰️ #octopus #cephalopodsofcoralcity #current #billowing #navigating #tentacles #chromatophores #coral #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #biscaynebay #coralcity
January 21, 2026 at 5:22 PM
mnhellcinema.bsky.social
•Leviathan hide leather that has bioluminescent chromatophores, used for eerie splotchy equivalents of neon signs.
January 17, 2026 at 5:22 PM
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
So that's what people mean by "hanging out!"

🦑📷ajhg (inaturalist.ca/observations...)
Three Southern Pygmy Squids (Xipholeptos notoides) on the underside of a piece of kelp. They have glued themselves to the kelp and waiting to ambush prey. The pygmy squid are squid shaped with mantles that are kind of shaped like a finger. They are very small as pygmy squids only reach a couple centimetres in mantle length at most. The leftmost one is facing towards the right, where as the other two are facing forward. The two on the left are greenish yellow whereas as the other is off white. They all have their arms together, with the two rightmost ones having their arms pointing up. They all have brown chromatophores. The kelp is a dark olive green, and it has little translucent bits sticking down. There is a blurry blade of sea grass in the foreground.
January 16, 2026 at 10:25 PM
catherinewinters.com
Ha, an earlier draft had the alien squid version of her in there, flaunting her fancy tank and making rude patterns at people with her chromatophores.
January 16, 2026 at 8:34 PM
fm-synth.bsky.social
LRP those tiny spots are chromatophores! Cells used in cephalopod species to change color

Squids and Cuttlefish use these for camouflage and showing emotion/displaying signals to other squid or Cuttlefish with regards to territory, aggression or attracting mates
January 16, 2026 at 10:55 AM
amnh.org
The Caribbean reef octopus is distinguished by its eye-catching blue coloring, but this master of disguise can change its looks in an instant. Like other octopuses, it uses pigmented cells in its skin, called chromatophores, to alter its appearance.

Photo: Christian Long, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist
A photo of a Caribbean reef octopus on the seafloor. It is a vibrant blue color, and seems to be using its tentacles to walk across the sandy terrain.
January 14, 2026 at 2:29 PM
museumofscience.bsky.social
Octopuses are colorblind, yet they’re some of the most skilled camouflage artists in the animal kingdom. 🐙​🧪

Their skin is covered in chromatophores, tiny pigment organs they control to shift color and texture on command, blending perfectly with their surroundings.

Watch the video here:
How Octopuses Pull Off Perfect Camouflage
YouTube video by Museum of Science
www.youtube.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
Vapers have nothing on cranchiids.

I like to see them pull their head and arms into their torso, then fill it with their own ink which you can see because they have transparent flesh.

Then I'd be impressed.

🦑📷 pcaiger (inaturalist.ca/observations...)
A Googly-eyed Glass Squid (Teuthowenia pellucida) floating in the sea having pulled its head and limbs into its mantle cavity. Its flesh is transparent, except for its eyes, and an long silvery organ in its mantle. It has orange translucent chromatophores that cover its mantle, making it look like its covered polka dots. It is inking a yellowish light brown ink that is getting pulled into mantle cavity and filling it up. The ink looks like wispy smoke except for its colour.
January 12, 2026 at 11:23 PM
dannastaaf.bsky.social
In these trying times, may I offer squid emoji to express key emotional states:
- pretending to be happy so effectively it might manifest as truth
- trying your hardest to camouflage against an unnatural background
- fabricating a friend, enemy, or decoy from your own secretions
- sploosh. ink
The "laughing with tears" joy emoji has been modified to look like a squid, with mantle and fins emerging from the top of the head and four arms emerging from the chin. Black pupils in the blue tears make them the eyes of the squid. The face of the emoji itself is implied to be created by chromatophores on the squid's skin. A gray squid on top of a black and white checkerboard pattern matches its background with areas of light and dark gray on its skin. Its black eyes with white highlights stand out. Two squid shapes mirror each other, left and right. On the right is a red squid with spotty skin, squirting dark blue ink out of its funnel. The jet of ink connects to the squid on the left, which is a dark blue silhouette of a squid--a pseudomorph, or fake squid made of ink. The real squid is peering over at the fake squid with one large eye. A large splash of dark blue ink is in the foreground. It is being squirted from the funnel of a cute red squid whose body is partially obscured by the cloud of ink. Four squid arms are also visible, curved energetically.
January 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
mstiahmarie.bsky.social
I love them.

Octave Chromatophores
January 12, 2026 at 4:39 AM
paolette.bsky.social
C'est grâce aux cellules chromatophores 😉
January 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM
paolette.bsky.social
Oui, c'est grace aux cellules chromatophores. La nature est vraiment étonnante 😍
January 10, 2026 at 1:16 PM
rainewilson.bsky.social
Yes! Chromatophores for everyone! 💪🏽
January 8, 2026 at 2:16 PM
rainewilson.bsky.social
One step closer to the Day Raine Gets To Have Chromatophores

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Octopus-inspired ‘synthetic skin’ changes colour and texture on demand
A material that can switch its appearance, cephalopod-style, could have future applications in robotics or display technology.
www.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:22 PM
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
Got to love it when a squid strikes a silly pose.

🦑📷Laura Kushner (inaturalist.ca/observations...)
A Grass Squid (Pickfordiateuthis pulchella) floating with its arms in a strange pose. They are all curled at the tips. Two arms are pointing down, two are pointing forward and the rest are pointing up but not all in the same direction. Its mantle is pointing to right and up. Its flesh is translucent and you can see its organs are visible inside of its mangle. It has brow, dark orange and golden yellow chromatophores. Its eyes are round silvery. The background is out of focus but you can tell there is seaweed in the background.
January 6, 2026 at 11:24 PM
describeaugust.bsky.social
Also forgot to add: their chromatophores glitter in light. Any kind of light.

It isn't so bright it's BLINDING or anything, but they do look like they're covered in glitter lol
January 4, 2026 at 11:46 PM
describeaugust.bsky.social
Also need to play with the way their skin rolls.

My poison dragons do not have scales whatsoever. They have thick, soft blubbery skin with chromatophores!

They use their neurotoxic gas to disable any enemies, so they don't need heavy plated armor like other dragon species.
January 4, 2026 at 11:43 PM
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
Love how these squids took the time to all pose for the photo.

🦑📷sue_churchill (inaturalist.ca/observations...)
A squad of six Bigfin Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana). They are all in the same pose, mantle pointing up and to the left on a diagonal, and their arms together and pointing down at a steeper angle. The leftmost squid is higher up, but all the other squids are about the same level in a line that goes back and left. The squid have translucent fins, round shiny eyes and are covered in in black and gold chromatophores. There a rope at the top edge of the photo. Blue water is all you can see in the background.
January 3, 2026 at 3:09 AM