I was browsing the net for interesting sea life when I came
across this creature, the mimic octopus, as its name suggests, it can mimic the
behavior and looks of other marine life. Isn’t that interesting? We already
know that some (I’m not sure whether it’s all or just some) of the octopus have
color changing abilities that allows them to camouflage themselves when they
are in trouble or to conceal themselves to trick an unsuspecting prey. Some take
the shape of a rock while others disappear beneath the gravel. For the other
octopuses, relying on special poisons will get them out of the trouble.
But for the mimic octopus, it copies the behaviors of other
sea creatures to stay alive in the vast ocean. They live in the tropical seas
if Southeast Asia, and can usually be found near the Philippines and even Malaysia
too. They were only discovered during the year 1998, so the discovery is
actually quite new. They can grow up to 60cm in length. The mimic octopus is a
smart creature, being able to mimic the physical likeness and movements of more
than 15 types of sea creatures, including the lionfish, sea snakes, sea shells,
flounders, stingrays, flatfish, jellyfish, mantis shrimp, sea anemones, giant
crabs and brittle stars.
If a damselfish is about to attack the octopus, it will try
to mimic a banded sea snake. The banded sea snake is a predator of the
damselfish. The octopus will do this by hiding its 6 arms and waving its two
arms in opposite directions, it will also change its color to black and yellow.
This will create the illusion that looks like a long banded sea snake and the damselfish
will then hesitate to attack it. To mimic an anemone, it will lie on its back,
with arms all swaying in the waters while facing up. It copies the jellyfish by
swimming to the top of the water and spreads its arms evenly around its body and
allows itself to sink slowly so that it looks like a floating jellyfish with
stinging tentacles minding its own business. It can also swim very fast by
using a jet-like propulsion when it is imitating a poisonous sole. If it is
hungry and want to eat some crabs, it could mimic another crab and appear as a
potential mate only to devour the poor little crab after that.
Isn’t it amazing that a creature has such a strong ability
to mimic other marine life? What if we humans have this ability too, to change color
to blend in with the wall? Or to hide from someone you don’t want to see. Will
that make us a mutant like the x-men?
If you are interested in watching the video of this octopus, I've included the link to a video. Enjoy!
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