Aquarium's Mini Baby Boom

Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium is celebrating the arrival of dozens of baby cuttlefish this week.

More than 60 of the mini-marvels, each just over a centimetre long, were born in the aquarium from eggs laid earlier this year and are thought to be the seventh generation of cuttlefish born at the award-winning wildlife attraction.

The eggs, known as sea grapes, began hatching over the weekend and staff are struggling to keep pace with the new arrivals.

Blue Reef's Jenni Collins said: "We were hoping that the eggs were viable but you can never be certain until they actually hatch. To see all the tiny babies swimming around the display is fantastic.

"They're exact miniature replicas of the adults and they all seem to be doing really well," she added.

Cuttlefish are close relatives of the octopus. Like their eight-legged cousins they can change colour and even body shape to match their moods and escape predators by releasing a cloud of ink.

From the moment of hatching, young cuttlefish can display at least 13 different types of body pattern.

"They really are incredible creatures. For most people their only experience of cuttlefish is the remains of their hard internal shells washed up on the beach," added David.

"When they see them hovering in mid-water or rapidly changing colour and shape as they communicate to each other they are absolutely amazed.

"The most common comments we get from people when they see the cuttles for the first time is they look like something out of the X-Files!"

A fringe of fins around their bodies allow the cuttlefish to hover motionless, but they can also move at high speed by expelling a jet of water from a funnel on the underside of their heads.

Specially-adapted skin cells allow them to rapidly change colour and shape. Scientists believe they use these abilities both to communicate to each other and to confuse their prey as they attack.

Although they are believed to be highly intelligent, cuttlefish are relatively short lived creatures, with a maximum lifespan of 18 months. For females the situation is even worse as they breed only once and die soon after laying their eggs.