Hawaiian Cuttlefish?

[tmbrilla]

Hi there, I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right forum for this. We just got back from a family vacation to Maui. While snorkeling in pretty shallow sandy water, we saw two brown cuttlefish. They were both small - about an inch (?), and inked if we tried to touch them.
My question - From what I've read online, it isn't common for cuttlefish to be in a reef area, let alone in that region. Is this true? If so, does anyone have any insight about why they were there?
They were very friendly little guys and would hang out right in front of our masks.
Thanks!

 

[monty]

Hi there, I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right forum for this. We just got back from a family vacation to Maui. While snorkeling in pretty shallow sandy water, we saw two brown cuttlefish. They were both small - about an inch (?), and inked if we tried to touch them.
My question - From what I've read online, it isn't common for cuttlefish to be in a reef area, let alone in that region. Is this true? If so, does anyone have any insight about why they were there?
They were very friendly little guys and would hang out right in front of our masks.
Thanks!

There are no true cuttlefish native to Hawaii, but there is a bobtailed squid that's very similar in looks and lifestyle, which is most likely what you saw... It's called Euprymna scolopes, the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid. (see Euprymna scolopes, Hawaiian bobtail squid - The Cephalopod Page for some pictures, or try a google image search on Euprymna scolopes and see if that looks like it...)

The only thing that makes me wonder, though, is that normally these guys are nocturnal, so they spend the day time, when most snorkelers are about, buried in the sand, and come out at night. Was this a twilight snorkeling expedition? I don't think seeing them during the day is unheard-of, just unusual. Seeing an actual cuttlefish anywhere in Hawaii other than the Waikiki Aquarium or a Japanese fish marked would be pretty unheard-of, however.

Anyway, to TONMO and glad you had a good experience... Oh, and for the record, "diving and ceph encounters" or "ID requests" are the best places for these sorts of questions, but here is fine, too. (Not to complain, just so future people looking will know about the other forums.)

 

[JOJO1978]

Cuttlefish in Hawaii

I was reading your post in regards to the Cuddlefish inquiry. I was also in Hawaii (Maui) in the fall of 08 and saw four Cuddlefish while diving in the morning. They were very skittish but did not ink when aproached.

Please see attached photo to verify.

 

[OB]

Hi there jojo, first and foremost a big hearty to our forum. Further, w.r.t. verification, the cephalopod you supplied photographywise is not a cuttlefish, but a rather fine specimen of the bigfin reefsquid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana

 

[JOJO1978]

Hi ob....thx for the clarification on the squid....hopefully this will clear up some of the mis-identification going on in this blog. I appreciate your knowledge and speedy reply...best JOJO