octopus

The giant cephalopods (squids and octopuses) of the deep sea have captured the imagination for centuries. But despite our fascination with these creatures, they are still enigmas, their behaviour illuminated only by the occasional lucky video or the presence of scars on animals they fight with. For many species, including the famous giant squid, we still know relatively little about what they eat and what position they occupy in their ecosystems. Yves Cherel from the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize has some new answers about the behaviour of deep-sea cephalopods and they came from a…
Fans of the traditional Japanese boxed lunch have welcomed news of a self-packing octopus. Staff at the New England Aquarium were able to encourage a 7-foot Giant Pacific Octopus to cram itself into a tiny 15" box. Aquarist Bill Murphy said: I place one or two live crabs inside the box and the octopus has to learn how to open the box to get the food. I start the octopus off with the small box and once he has mastered the lock I switch to another box and once he has mastered each individual box I put a box inside a box to keep him active and challenged. Full story here. Hat tip to Ed Yong…
Our friends at the New England Aquarium pointed us to these nifty shots of their giant Pacific octopus squeezing itself into a small acrylic box for some delicious crab. As part of regular enrichment activities for the octopus, aquarist Bill Murphy hides food in plastic boxes with different types of "locks" the octopus must figure out. In this case, the box being used had a hole in it created by the aquarium's previous resident octopus and, rather than open the top, the octopus just sort of poured himself in. When the aquarium really wants to frustrate their octopus, they just give it a…
A mischievous octopus is being held responsible over the flooding of a Californian aquarium after sabotaging the filtration system. Employees at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium arrived at work yesterday to find their offices soaked with hundreds of gallons of seawater. The source of the flood was traced to the aquarium's small two-spotted octopus. Staff member Brianne Emhiser stated in a press release:"Our best guess is that the octopus, who is incredibly gregarious and curious, tugged on a valve in her tank last night causing a steady stream of water to overflow out of the tank." The…
Something Rich and Strange Jessica Palmer, 2008 Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Bioephemera! A big thank you to everyone who reads and comments on my blog - you are why I do this. Enjoy your holiday and have a wonderful New Year! Jess
So I was showing Zooillogix to a few folks at my friend's party in San Francisco and this guy broke out this sweet dumbo octopus tattoo. I'll show you mine, if you show me yours can be a risky move for a straight guy in SF, but it worked out this time around. Dumbo octopus action He also had this spotted owl tat, which appears to be nesting in a dense thicket of some sort... Thanks to Nicky Crane (not the deceased gay neo-Nazi skinhead activist) and Cassie Abel for providing the booze and camera.
tags: Indonesian Mimetic Octopus, invertebrates, behavior, streaming video This fascinating creature was discovered in 1998 off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia, the mimic octopus is the first known species to take on the characteristics of multiple species. This octopus is able to copy the physical likeness and movement of more than fifteen different species, including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp. This animal is so intelligent that it is able to discern which dangerous sea creature to…
Otto, an octopus living at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, seems to have a flair for interior decoration. According to the aquarium directors he periodically rearranges all of articles in his tank to "suit his own taste better, much to the distress of his fellow tank inhabitants." It is unclear if he actually prefers his home certain ways or if he's just seeking attention. He has been known to juggle hermit crabs and to throw rocks against the glass walls and damaging them. But Otto's greatest feat thus far concerned a bright spotlight that shone into his tank at night. Otto tries…
Marine biologists off the coast of Australia have discovered what they believe to be hundreds of new species on the Great Barrier and Ningaloo Reefs. The project is part of CReefs, a global census of coral reefs, which is in turn part of the larger Census of Marine Life, an ongoing effort to catalog all ocean life. The researchers were kind enough to take a number of incredible photos, many of which we share below. It's not clear to me which of these are newly identified organisms and which are just pretty critters they encountered along the way, but many of them are spectacular regardless…
tags: itchy tentacle relief, octopus, Japanese commercial, streaming video Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a commercial for itchy tentacle relief tentacle lube. Despite what you're thinking, this streaming video is SFW [0:30].
New research has revealed some stunning courtship rituals of octopuses including flirting, hand holding, lover guarding, and even stalking the Myspace pages of potential mates. The studies were conducted by the University of California, Berkeley on Abdopus aculeatus a kind of octopus living in a large colony off the coast of Sulawesi, an island in Indonesia. Do you have eight gloves in your pocket? Because I can see my hands in your pants. "We quickly realized that Abdopus aculeatus broke all the 'rules' -- doing the near opposite of every hypothesis we'd formed based on aquarium studies…
This six-legged octopus- the first ever known to science -was hauled in from a catch off of the coast of Wales. His lack of two limbs appear to be the result of a birth defect not an insurgent IED. The hexapus has been named "Henry" and now resides at the Blackpool Sea Life Centre in Northwest England.
tags: behavior, environmental enrichment, giant Pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, cephalopod, animal intelligence Louis, the giant pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, cuddles his Mr Potato Head. The 1.8meter-wide (6 foot) animal is so attached to Mr Potato Head that he becomes aggressive when aquarium staff try to remove it from his tank. Image: Apex. Who would have thought that Mr Potato Head would turn out to be such a charmer? Certainly not I, but this morning, I unexpectedly ran across a news story about a giant Pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, that lives in an aquarium in the UK.…
Louis, an 18 month old, giant Pacific octopus at the Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium in the U.K. has a new best friend: a Mr. Potato Head doll. In this article on bbc.com, Matt Slater of the aquarium, talks about Louis' love affair with the little plastic man (NOTE: This quote is a lot more powerful if you imagine it with the accent of the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins):"Its bright colours, strange shape and... ...moveable parts make it fascinating for Louis.The secret space within Mr Potato Head allows us to hide tasty treats like fresh crab inside and that perhaps more than anything has…
Close-up of a cuttlefish, taken at Disney's "Living Seas" exhibit The holidays seem to be coming earlier every year, and today is International Cephalopod Awareness Day! Indeed, it's always a good thing to be aware of cephalopods (it's 12 PM, do you know where Architeuthis is?), especially since the consequences of not being so can be rather painful, or at least very inky. Even if you can't celebrate the day via your own blog, why not pick up some cephalopod-based literature? I'm going with Hanlon & Messenger's Cephalopod Behaviour, but whatever you do, be sure to see PZ's collection of…
So maybe it doesn't "terrorize" so much as it "fascinates" nerds like us, but nevertheless, a truly bizarre critter has emerged from the depths of the Pacific. Researchers at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii used a 3,000 foot hose to suck the hapless cephalopod up from the black depths off Keahole Point last week. The slippery subject, which may be an entirely new species, has the body of a squid but the eight suction-cupped arms of an octopus. Octosquid arrived at the surface alive because cephalopods' bag-like bodies naturally adjust to pressure changes. The two black ratfish that…
The title says it all.
You probably know octopuses can change their color and appearance but this footage is unbelievable. Before you harass me, it is "octopuses" and not "octopi."Disclaimer - actual adorable octopuses featured above may not berepresentative of much less adorable octopuses in video. Sepiadarium austrinum