Sepia Or Cuttlefish

Watch Kisslip Cuttlefish Changing Colors from

Monterey Bay Aquarium

       Sepia, the name of a cuttlefish, also of a pigment used by painters to produce a beautiful brown color prepared from the secretion of an organ in the cuttlefish, called the ink bag. The original black color is changed to brown by dissolving in caustic potash. This solution, after boiling and filtering, forms the sepia of commerce. The black coloring matter obtained from the ink bags is marketed, after undergoing several processes, as India ink. 

More About Cuttlefish From The Web:

• Cuttlefish Use Hypnosis to Hunt
• Can Cuttlefish Camouflage in a Living Room?
• How To Clean Squid or Cuttlefish - without bursting the ink sack (If you were harvesting fish for sepia ink, you would need to know how to remove the ink sack