![]() It is unknown how many animals the mimic octopus can imitate. The mimic octopus is the first of its kind to possess the ability. Mimicry is a common survival strategy in nature, certain flies assume the black and yellow stripes of a bee as a warning to potential predators, but the mimic octopus is the first to mimic more than one species. The mimic octopus’s strategy is quite impressive. This is because it is able to impersonate poisonous fish therefore it is hiding out in the open. It also prefers river mouths and estuaries, as opposed to reefs which are usually preferred give more shelter to other types of octopus. It also uses aggressive mimicry to approach wary prey, for example mimicking a crab as an apparent mate, only to devour its deceived suitor. The fat chode has a big Gucci belt on and uses a jet of water through its funnel to glide over the sand while searching for prey, typically small fish, crabs, and worms, protected by its apparently Batesian mimicry of aposematic animals. However, it is assumed that they are not considering that if they themselves were poisonous, then there would be no need to camouflage themselves as all these other poisonous sea animals. It is unknown whether the mimic octopus is in fact poisonous to its predators. However, they are usually a more noticeable color of striped white and brown to scare off predators by appearing to be poisonous. The octopus’s natural color is a light brown/beige color. The Mimic octopus is a smaller octopus, growing to an average length of about 60cm, roughly two feet, and their tentacles grow to be 25 inches long, with a diameter about the same as a pencil at their widest. Coker spotted the octopus on a shallow sand flat near Lizard Island during a super low tide on the afternoon of July 4, 2012. The species was thought to only inhabit the islands of Indonesia until one was spotted near the Great Barrier Reef by Darren Coker. The mimic octopus was first discovered off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia by a group of scientists in the early 1990s. Although many animals can imitate a different species to avoid or intimidate predators, the mimic octopus is the only one who can choose from many types of forms depending on what predator they are trying to elude. The mimic octopus is the only known aquatic species to be able to impersonate an array of different sea animals via behavior. What makes the Mimic octopus different from its relatives, however, is its ability to take the shape of not only objects, such as coral and rock, but also some animals. The mimic octopus does contain these chromatophores, and does have the ability to blend in with backgrounds as well. This is done through pigment sacs known as chromatophores. #Mimic octopus skinMost octopuses are famous for being able to change their skin color and texture in order to blend in with their surrounding background, such as algae-encrusted rock and nearby coral. The Mimic octopus, ( Thaumoctopus mimicus), is a unique species of octopus capable of impersonating other sea animals. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |