SQUID SAY IT WITH SKIN: A GRAPHIC MODEL FOR SKIN DISPLAYS IN CARIBBEAN REEF SQUID (SEPIOTEUTHIS SEPIOIDEA)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe the construction and use of a graphic model to express ‘squiddish’, visual skin displays in reef squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea. It was created and refined as a result of a field study off the Caribbean island, Bonaire, to systematize the repertoire of this species’ patterns for an ethogram. Squid communication is composed of visual units and components on their body and postures. The color components and reflective units can be turned on and off and are grouped together for complex inter- and intraspecific communication. Like squid skin patterns, our graphic model is composed of components. It was created in Adobe PhotoShop ® and consists of a dorsal and a lateral view of a squid. These two shapes can be filled with components for displays and changes of posture by turning combinations of multiple layers in the PhotoShop program on and off. Components are divided into basic background colors and areas of the body on which they overlay distinct patterns. This model demonstrates an assortment of intraspecific displays of S. sepioidea, including variations in patterns between males and females and across different age groups, as well as interspecific displays such as camouflage patterns. It will be made publicly available via CephBase (www.cephbase.utmb.edu) to help researchers catalog the full range of displays of S. sepioidea and can also establish consistent terminology for the displays and their components of these squid.