Fig. 5. Where camouflage relies on matching stripes on a body pattern to stripes in the background, mismatches due to small errors may severely compromise camouflage. (A) A cartoon of the camouflage situation faced by our cuttlefish, together with the optimal camouflage pattern (stripes that exactly match the substrate). If this were possible, it would be the best strategy. To achieve this perfect match, the animal needs to both accurately estimate the frequency, orientation and phase of the substrate, and also generate to a matching pattern. (B) Shows the results of a small error (10%) in estimating the frequency of the substrate. As can be seen, this small error results in highly visible structure around the cuttlefish. (C) Shows the result of a 10% error in frequency, phase and orientation. These small errors can result in a pattern that is more visible than one that either simply matched the average luminance, or employs a disruptive pattern.