dcsimg
Image of Indonesian mimic octopus
Creatures » » Animal » » Molluscs » Cephalopods » » Octopodidae »

Indonesian Mimic Octopus

Thaumoctopus mimicus Norman & Hochberg 2005

Mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus)

provided by EOL authors
A group of scientists discovered the mimic octopus off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 1998. The species was thought to only inhabit the islands of Indonesia until Darren Coker spotted one was spotted near the Great Barrier Reef in 2010. This octopus was on a shallow sand flat near Lizard Island (1). The mimic octopus lives in nutrient-rich estuarine bays of Indonesia and Malaysia primarily in shallow warm waters about 15 meters deep in the Indo-West Pacific. It prefers obscuring murky and muddy sea floors to blend in with its natural brown, beige color.

The mimic octopus grows to an average length of 60cm (2 feet) and its arms grow to be 62 cm (25 in long). The natural colour is light brown/beige, but the octopus may adopt a striped white and brown pattern to scare off predators by appearing to be poisonous. It is unknown if it is poisonous to predators. It is assumed that if it is not considering that it is poisonous, there would be no need to camouflage themselves as all the other poisonous sea animals (1).

Most octopuses can use pigment sacs (chromatophores) to change their skin colour and texture to blend in with their surrounding background, such as algae-encrusted rock and nearby coral. The mimic octopus can blend in with backgrounds and can mimic the shape of objects, such as coral and rock, and some animals (1). It is the only known aquatic species that impersonates an array of different sea animals via changes in behaviour, coloration and body posture, depending on what predator it is trying to elude (2). It uses mimicry as a primary defense and is reputed to mimic up to 15 species of other local marine organisms. When motionless, it assumes body patterns and postures resembling small sponges, tube-worm tubes or colonial tunicates in an open sand habitat. The barren homelands provided the impetus to evolve mimicry (4). The octopus is intelligent enough to discern which dangerous sea creature to impersonate that will present the greatest threat to its current possible predator. When an octopus was attacked by territorial damselfishes, it mimicked the black-and-yellow banded sea snake, a predator of damselfishes (3).

Most of the animals it mimics are poisonous. Its shape shifting is probably a deliberate survival strategy. The animals it mimics include:

1. Lionfish: This poisonous fish has brown and white stripes and spines that trail behind it on all sides. When the octopus changes its colour and shapes its eight legs to look like spines, it seems to be a highly venomous creature that should be avoided.

2. Sea snake: If under attack, the octopus may hide in a hole except for two of its legs, which it sticks out in opposite directions. What remains in view is a long thin object with white and black bands running across the elongated body. Many predators avoid tangling with the highly venomous sea snake and swim away, leaving the octopus unharmed.

3. Flatfish: The octopus mimicsa flatfish by pulling its arms together on one side and flattening out its body while moving forward along the ocean floor. It mimics the shape, swimming actions, speed, duration and sometimes the colour of swimming flounders. During flounder mimicry, it is actively moving and conspicuous; immediately before and after flounder mimicry, it is camouflaged and motionless (sitting or very slowly crawling). It uses flounder mimicry when its movement would give away camouflage in an open habitat.

4. Jellyfish – The octopus may act as a Jellyfish to frighten and discourage predators. It puffs up its head and siphon and lets its arms trail behind it. It mimics the motions of a jellyfish swimming by going to the surface and slowly sinking with its arms spread evenly around its body.

The mimic octopus can be classified as a hunter or a forager. It is thought to be a hunter, as it can stalk prey and hunt down small fish and catch them. More often, however, it forages for food by using a jet of water through its siphon (funnel) to glide over the sand, while searching for prey, and using its slender tentacles to reach into crevices in coral and holes in the sand, using its suction cups to grab small crustaceans and eat them. As it prefers to live in shallow, murky waters, it is believed that it feeds almost exclusively on small fish, crabs and worms, which are the only two animals that are common to those conditions that the octopus can survive on. The octopus isnot known to eat any type of plant or vegetation.(1). It may use aggressive mimicry to approach wary prey, such as mimicking a crab as an apparent mate, only to devour its deceived suitor. It prefers river mouths and estuaries to reefs, which give more shelter to other types of octopus. This is because it can impersonate poisonous fish and hides out in the open.

Males die within a few months after mating. A fertilized female lays about 200,000 eggs, which she hangs these eggs in strings from the ceiling of her lair or individually attaches them to the substratum. She cares for the eggs, guarding them against predators and gently blowing currents of water over them so they get enough oxygen. She does not eat for about a month while she takes care of the unhatched eggs. She dies at around the time the eggs hatch (5). The mimic octopus is not thought to be at risk of extinction.
license
cc-by-3.0
copyright
Olingo
author
(Olingo)
original
visit source
partner site
EOL authors

Mimic octopus

provided by wikipedia EN

The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is a species of octopus from the Indo-Pacific region. Like other octopuses, it uses its chromatophores to disguise itself with its background. However, it is noteworthy for being able to impersonate a wide variety of other marine animals.[2] Although many animals mimic either their environment or other animals to avoid predation, the mimic octopus and its close relative the wunderpus are the only ones known to actively imitate several animals in order to elude predators.[3]

Appearance

The mimic octopus is a smaller octopus, growing to a total length of about 60 cm (2 ft), including arms, with a diameter approximately that of a pencil at their widest. Small horns protrude from each eye. The octopus' natural color is light brown/beige, but it usually takes on a more noticeable hue of striped white and brown to scare off predators by imitating poisonous species and vicious, territorial sea creatures. Its ability to change shape is the reason it was named the "mimic" octopus, which is its main defense besides camouflage.

Habitat and range

Mimic octopus showing typical pattern

The mimic octopus was first discovered off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 1998 on the bottom of a muddy river mouth.[4] It has since been found to inhabit the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman in the west to New Caledonia in the east, and Gulf of Thailand and the Philippines in the north to the Great Barrier Reef in south.[1][5][6] Most documented records are from Indonesia.[5] It is primarily found in areas with sand or silt at depths of less than 15 m (49 ft).[2] It prefers obscuring murky and muddy sea floors to blend in with its natural brown-beige coloring.

Behavior

The mimic octopus uses a jet of water through its funnel to glide over the sand while searching for prey, typically small fish, crabs, and worms. It prefers river mouths and estuaries, as opposed to reefs which are usually preferred as shelter by other types of octopus. This is due to its ability to impersonate toxic animals, putting it at less risk of predation than others in the open.

Mimic octopus showing a variant pattern

Mimic octopuses have been observed mimicking numerous different species of animals, some animals being mimicked more often than others. Among the animals mimicked are lionfish (the octopus holds its arms out radially to mimic the fish's spines), sea snake (hiding 6 of its arms, it holds the remaining 2 parallel to each other),[7] jellyfish (by inflating its mantle and trailing its arms behind it), and zebra sole (holding all 8 arms behind it as it uses its siphon to swim). The octopus' mimicry of flatfish may be its preferred guise; in a period of 5 days, nearly 500 instances of flatfish mimicry were seen.[8] Not only does the mimic octopus use its ability to defend from predators, 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 mimic octopus retains the ability to camouflage with its sandy environment. It was also observed to mimic sessile animals such as small sponges, tube-worm tubes, or colonial tunicates.[8]

The octopus may be able to intelligently use its mimicry based on the situation. For example, an octopus which was being harassed by damselfish mimicked a banded sea snake, a damselfish predator.[9] It decides which mimicry behavior would be most appropriate and acts upon it.

Feeding

The mimic octopus can either be classified as a hunter or a forager. It is believed to be a hunter because scientists have observed and recorded the octopus having the ability to stalk prey and hunt down small fish and catch them. More often, however, the mimic octopus can be seen foraging for food. It does this by using a jet of water through its siphon to glide over the sand while searching for prey, and using its slender tentacles to reach into crevices in coral, as well as holes in the sand, and use its suction cups to grab small crustaceans and eat them. Because the mimic octopus prefers to live in shallow, murky waters, it is believed that its diet consists almost exclusively of small fish and crustaceans. That is because those are the only two animals that are common to those conditions that a mimic octopus can survive on. They are believed to be carnivores, and are not known to eat any type of plant or vegetation.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Norman, M.D.; and Hochberg, F.G. (2005). "The 'mimic Octopus' (Thaumoctopus mimicus n. gen. et sp.), a new octopus from the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)." Molluscan Research 25: 57–70.
  2. ^ a b c Maculay, G. (January 6, 2012). "Mimic Octopus Creature Feature - Diving with Mimics". Dive The World - Scuba Diving Vacations - Dive Travel - Diving Holidays - Liveaboards. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  3. ^ Harmon, Katherine (February 21, 2013). "Mimic Octopus Makes Home on Great Barrier Reef". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  4. ^ "Mimic Octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus". MarineBio. MarineBio Conservation Society. January 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Coker, Darren J. (2013). "Documentation of the mimic octopus Thaumoctopus mimicus in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia." Marine Biodiversity Records 1-2.
  6. ^ Nabhitabhata, Jaruwat; and Sukhsangchan, Charuay (2007). New Photographic Record of the Mimic Octopus in the Gulf of Thailand. Phuket Mar. Biol. Cent. Res. Bull. 68: 31–34.
  7. ^ "Mimic Octopuses". Marinebio.org. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  8. ^ a b Hanlon, R. T., Conroy, L.-A. and Forsythe, J. W. (2008). "Mimicry and foraging behaviour of two tropical sand-flat octopus species off North Sulawesi, Indonesia". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 93: 23–38. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00948.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  9. ^ John Roach (21 September 2001). "Newfound Octopus Impersonates Fish,Snakes". National Geographic.
license
cc-by-sa-3.0
copyright
Wikipedia authors and editors
original
visit source
partner site
wikipedia EN

Mimic octopus: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is a species of octopus from the Indo-Pacific region. Like other octopuses, it uses its chromatophores to disguise itself with its background. However, it is noteworthy for being able to impersonate a wide variety of other marine animals. Although many animals mimic either their environment or other animals to avoid predation, the mimic octopus and its close relative the wunderpus are the only ones known to actively imitate several animals in order to elude predators.

license
cc-by-sa-3.0
copyright
Wikipedia authors and editors
original
visit source
partner site
wikipedia EN