Life in the wild can be tough , and for many animals , the good way to survive is by hiding from piranha in plain sight . One of nature ’s most telling masters of camouflage is the devilfish , which can commute coloration and grain in less than a second , blending into its surround with incredible truth . Case in point : this octopus , which surfaced online this week .
We spoke with Ernie Sawyer , a senior aquarist at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and caretaker of the marine museum ’s 2 - year - old Giant Pacific Octopus , Oliver , to check a bit more about what this eight - legged brute is up to .
What kind of octopus is this?
“ It calculate like it ’s one of many XII tropic saltwater species , ” Sawyer says . “ And looks like a middling undecomposed sizing one — its full duration across is possibly a invertebrate foot and half to 2 feet . ” Indeed , according to the diver , who posted the original picture on YouTube , he was snorkeling in the Caribbean when he dive down to get a secretive flavor at a shell . “ As I approached the octopus came out of hiding . I had literally no idea he was there until I was about a metre away . ” Sawyer says most octopuses have this unique camouflage skill .
Why do octopuses (not octopi!) disguise themselves?
“ Octopuses are really close by nature , ” Sawyer say . “ They like to test to blend into their surroundings if they ’re not in some kind of cave or den . ” They can also employ their disguises to either avoid predators or to sneak up on their own quarry .
How do they know what color to mimic?
Good question , and one that researchers are still trying to answer . They know cephalopod ( octopuses , calamary , and cuttlefish ) match their pelt to their surroundings using their seeing . But what ’s perplexing is that octopuses are really colorblind . It ’s possible they can severalize between different polarization of light better than humans can , but the exact method forhowthey name colour is nameless . The act of changing color is the work of cells called chromatophores that contain colorful pigments ( black , brown , orange , cherry , or yellow ) and can be squeezed like a balloon to make the pigments more prominent on the skin . Fox Meyerwith the Smithsonian Museum put it well : “ If you squeezed a dye - fill balloon , the color would be pushed to the top , debase out the surface and making the color look vivid . ”
shipboard soldier biologistRoger Hanlonhas actually identified three to four basic pattern templates cephalopod practice most often : uniform ( no contrast in pattern ) , mottle ( light and dark splodge ) , and troubled ( blot out the outline of the animate being to confuse its identity ) . Here ’s a smashing image establish examples of those three :
via the National Institutes of Health
And they can change texture, too?
Yes ! Cephalopods are the only type of fauna known to control the texture of their skin to produce spikes , bumps , and ridge . Sawyer says Oliver , the Shedd Aquarium ’s devilfish , does this from time to time . Here ’s a closeup of this process in action :
Why does the octopus turn electric blue when approached?
Actually , it ’s probably not turning blue at all — it just appears that agency under weewee . “ It ’s plausibly a whitish gray , ” says Sawyer . “ It might look blue in video , but by turning white , it is prove to make itself reckon bigger and more of a menace to the approaching plunger . ” Most octopuses are by nature “ brownish tan , like a khaki , ” he articulate .
Here ’s one more incredible video :
