Cuttlefish, relatives of octopus and squid, have millions of color cells in their skin, which gives them extraordinary control over their appearance. They are brilliant at camouflage, and they can also create displays to communicate to other cuttlefish.

The males do this when they are fighting over a female. Their battles are primarily visual, flashing a zebra strip display at a rival, or increasing the size of one pupil and creating a dark eye ring. Scientists have seen much of this behavior, but in 2011 off the coast of Turkey two researchers who were diving and observing the common cuttlefish witnessed something much more extreme — a physical battle.

Justine J. Allen of Brown University and Derya Akkaynak, now at the University of Haifa in Israel, recorded video of the fight, which they just released, along with an article in the The American Naturalist describing the encounter.