Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide

Colophon

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The animal featured on the cover of Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide is a cuttlefish. Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) are commonly found in the eastern Atlantic from England to North Africa and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. This soft-bodied marine creature belongs to the Cephalopoda class and, like all cephalopods, has a large head ringed by arms. Cuttlefish have eight arms, plus two long tentacles with suckers on their ends. Cuttlefish are usually about a foot long, and they move through the water by rippling a skirt of fins. They are sometimes called the chameleons of the sea because they can easily change their striped skin color to hide from predators or communicate with other cuttlefish.

In addition to the camouflage offered by their ability to change color, threatened cuttlefish use ink to defend themselves. Their ink glands produce a foul-smelling dark brown ink that distracts enemies such as sharks, larger fish, and even other cuttlefish. They can then fill the ink funnel with water, expel it, and propel themselves to safety. Cuttlefish ink (also called sepia) was once used to color photographs; however, they are no longer fished for this purpose, and cuttlefish caught in trawl nets usually wind up on a dinner table. ...