Mimic octopus by NG Richard
uoe:
@flange5 Deep breaths. (via EVNautilus)
No shame: I pretty much use holidays now as a fun excuse to buy more stuff for octo enrichment. So, Happy Valentine’s Day from our squishy little sea monster! She sends you love from the bottom of all three of her hearts ;)
The Mimic Octopus
This fascinating creature was discovered in 1998 off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia on the bottom of a muddy river mouth. For the next 2 years, scientists filmed nine different mimic octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus (Norman & Hochberg, 2005), impersonating sea snakes, lionfish, and flatfish—a strategy used to avoid predators. Mimic octopuses reach about 60 cm in length and are typically brown and white striped.
Mimic octopuses have been observed shifting between impersonations as it crosses the ocean floor to return to its burrow.
Scientists speculate that additional mimic species will be found in muddy river and estuary bottoms in the tropics as these areas are typically unexplored.
Deep Sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica)
This beautiful octopus was observed by ROPOS during cable route surveys between Endeavour Node and the north Regional Circulation Mooring (RCM) instrument platform at Endeavour Ridge, 20 September 2010. (N47° 58.1264′ W129° 2.8567′, depth: 2327m )
photograph: NEPTUNE - Canada
