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damn how bad was this reporter hurt by an octopus

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“RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!”

One of our awesome volunteers brought in this submarine as enrichment for the octos, and this little sea monster has had a fantastic time sinking the ship, causing chaos, and finding food while doing so! I love the simplicity of this little vessel as a form of enrichment, and the potential it holds for more complicated activities.

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Mimic Octopus

This sea creature can mimic the behaviors and various shapes of different animals it sees. They are highly intelligent and use their ability to camouflage and avoid predators. It is so intelligent that it will actually mimic a sea creature that its predators is afraid of. For example, scientists observed that when the octopus was attacked by territorial damselfishes, it mimicked the banded sea snake, a known predator of damselfishes.

It can mimic sea creatures like the sole fish, lion fish, sea snakes, frog fish and more.

SOURCE

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Flambo portrait by Luko Gecko on Flickr.

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by bluewavechris

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Classical Black-figure Octopus Jug, Greek or Sicilian, c. Late 5th Century BC

Both the shape and decoration of this charming little vase are unusual and exact parallels are wanting. The octopus became a favorite subject of ancient Greek artists, who utilized its unusual biological form and symmetrical anatomy as a decorative device, perfectly adaptable to the curving surfaces of jugs such as this. They were popular motifs in the decorative repertory of Minoan and Mycenaean vase-painters, who developed what is known as the Marine Style. In addition, the creature is represented on gold foil relief ornaments from Grave Circle A at Mycenae.

In ancient Greek literature, the octopus makes its first appearance in The Odyssey when Odysseus, shipwrecked and clinging to a rock, is compared to one: “Just as when an octopus is pulled from its lair, closely packed pebbles are held against its suckers, so pieces of skin from his strong hands were scraped off against the rocks; and the great wave covered him.”

Descriptive references and accurate depictions of the octopus in literature and art, such as that painted on this vase, suggest that poets and artists must have had a first-hand knowledge about the appearance and behavior of this marine invertebrate. In antiquity, as today, the Mediterranean was a nearly tideless sea, and its gently sloping, rocky and pebbly beaches would have made it possible to observe the animal in shallow water. The octopus was a favorite food of the ancients, the best fishing grounds for it being located off the coasts of Thasos and Caria. It was admired for its sweet taste and was additionally thought to be an aphrodisiac.

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At Sunset The Octopus Came Out To Play : Alex Bramwell

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Bobtail squid can control whether their skin is “sticky” or not so they can decide when sand and pebbles stick to them for camouflage.

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Finding a human mate is difficult enough. We at least, however, have bars and online dating sites. For the octopus, things can be a little more challenging....

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Time for lunch (for the cuttlefish)

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Squid on the scene!

Three small octopus squid and one swordtail squid are our newest visitors from the deep. No squidding, that’s a lot of arms! All can be seen in our Tentacles special exhibition.

The octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) gets its name from an unusual mid-life transformation. As the squid ages, it loses the two long tentacles that are typical of squid species, and with only eight arms, looks more like an octopus.

Look closely at the arms—the tip of each one has a large light-producing organ called a photophore. When threatened, this squid can detach its lighted arm tips, leaving them as decoys for predators!

The swordtail squid (Chiroteuthis calyx), with its transparent body and large eyes, looks like a creature from another world.  Like the octopus squid, an adult swordtail has a bioluminescent photophore on each  tentacle tip. Researchers think the squid hangs these lighted tips down to attract unsuspecting prey!

When startled, the squid will swim off by pushing water through its siphon. In its place, the squid will leave a “pseudomorph” made of ink that resembles the squid’s body shape.

Thanks to a collaboration with our partners at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), you can get eye-to-eye with these incredible animals while we help MBARI scientists learn more about little-known deep-sea species. Like many cephalopods, these animals can be fragile and short-lived, so we encourage you to visit soon and check them out!

Learn more about MBARI’s work

(Photos: (c) MBARI)

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Fernando Suarez Reguera

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Vampire (Squid) Diaries Fear this? Maybe not. The vampire squid has a scary name but just eats dead stuff. With help from our colleagues at MBARI, we just added a huge, 12-inch “vamp” to our Tentacles exhibit!

The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is an ancient animal that lives in deep tropical and temperate waters—like the Monterey submarine canyon. Despite its sinister appearance—and its name, which means “vampire squid from hell”—this animal is a scavenger. Look closely to see its thin feeding filament. This sticky tentacle catches “marine snow” that rains down from above: a mixture of poop, dead animal parts and mucus. 

Learn more about Tentacles (Thanks to staffer Patrick Webster for the great photos)