Cuttlefish Color Signal Lab (2D)

This 2D companion models cuttlefish color-pulse signaling as a coupled phase-oscillator system rather than a decorative flash: every cuttlefish carries its own free-running pulse rhythm, and each one nudges its phase toward the average phase of whichever neighbors it can currently see — the same coupled-oscillator (Kuramoto) mechanism used to describe synchronized flashing in fireflies and pacemaker cells. Turbidity is not cosmetic here; it directly shrinks the visible range a color pulse carries over, cutting the neighbor count each cuttlefish can couple to, while the group-coupling slider sets how strongly it corrects toward whatever neighbors remain visible. Push turbidity high with coupling low and the school desynchronizes into independent flickering; push coupling back up and even a murky reef locks into a shared rhythm.