I wonder why the octopus is preferred to the giant squid as the cliched Steampunk icon (given the Verne allusions).
Myself, I only like using octopus iconography when the tentacles serve a purpose...on a chatelaine to hang bits and bobs, on a hat stand to hold hats, etc.
I think it's because an octopus's head is much more compact, so when it's abstracted to an icon the tentacles and eyes are much more prominent. With a squid, due to the long thin body, in an icon image you would lose the detail in the tentacles and it simply doesn't have the same effect.
In a more realistic image, of course, I think a good artist can actually make a squid look much
more malevolent than an octopus.
Cuttlefish are so cute! I'm not sure why I feel that way. Maybe it's the name...it's so close to "cuddle."
I feel exactly the same way! I love cuttlefish and have ever since I was a kid. There was a little ocean computer game that I had back in the day where you played a cuttlefish that swam around under the sea trying to find starfish to eat and trying to avoid getting eaten by sharks. I loved that game...wish I knew what it was called so I could play it again!
It's probably because of the cuttlefish's colour-shifting ability. It starts dancing and flickering and strobing and you watch the swirling patterns of colour and the effect is completely mezmeri... mezm...
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOFISH
