![]() ![]() Discovered in 1830, the beautifully strange and elusive Blanket Octopus can. What do you think about the blanket octopus? Tell us in the comments below and keep reading for science and technology stories. They are foraging predators with a diet that consist mostly of bristle worms. Moreover, they also die soon after mating, making them even rarer to spot. ![]() In contrast, the male blanket octopus measures just 2.4 centimetres. In fact, the blanket on female blanket octopus can grow up to two metres in length. According to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, this large cape allows the octopus to look more intimidating to potential predators. When I first saw it I thought it could have been a juvenile fish with long fins, but as it came closer I realised it was a blanket octopus and I was overjoyed and couldn’t contain my excitement! Surely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter for me, so grateful!”Īlso Read: Australian Octopus Clicked A Selfie, Which Won Awards At A Photo Competitionīlanket octopuses get their name from the female of the species, who are known to possess a long, fleshy cape enclosed in its tentacles. Ocean said in a statement, “The colours in her cape were incredible and it was fascinating to watch the way she moved through the water.Blanket octopuses may actually use these stollen tentacles to stun or kill prey. ![]() These tentacle weapons may be more than just defensive. ![]() This is because shrimp is one of the few creatures that can provide the Blanket octopus with a good source of nutrients. Unlike most other octopuses, which are carnivores, blanket octopuses are actually on the lookout for shrimp. They hold onto these tentacles with their suckers, and the scientist who accidentally discovered this “experienced sudden and severe pain involuntarily threw the octopod back into the water”. 1.Shrimp: Blanket octopuses are also notable for their eating habits. By controlling the populations of prey species, it helps. A boundary-setting survival icon octopus is charming the internet thanks to this video of her releasing her very own blanket to protect herself against predators. Just a beautiful scarf of living flesh, floating in the middle of the ocean.ĥ) Females have weapons. Young female blanket octopuses literally rip the tentacles right off portuguese man-o-war jellies and uses them like little octopus nunchuks. As a predator in the pelagic zone, the blanket octopus plays an important role in the marine ecosystem. I can’t imagine what someone might think, finding something like this with no rhyme or reason. Occasionally these blankets are spotted by divers. Ĥ) The ‘blankets’ of blanket octopuses can break off. This may be accidental, or a way to distract predators. Did I mention he probably dies afterward? He likes her that much. She keeps it, and can use it if she wants to. 1.Shrimp: Blanket octopuses are also notable for their eating habits. Instead, he fills up one of his little arms with sperm, sticks it to her, and breaks it off his own body. When a male finds a female he likes, he doesn’t try to convince her that he’s the right guy. No problem.ģ) Blanket octopuses are very romantic. Oh, and sometimes they have to take a ‘shark stick’ to poke away nighttime predators. Y’know, where scientists go diving in the middle of the night…in the middle of the ocean…while hanging from a rope above the abyss. Males were first discovered during a “blackwater hang”. The males, on the other hand, are the size of the pupil in a female’s eye, or roughly the size of your thumbnail, and look like this: Scale bar is 1 mm. The females can reach up to 2 meters (~6.6 ft) in length. For many animals, the male is the bigger and flashier sex. FWRI biologists collected a female blanket octopus (Tremoctopus. This is also thought to ward off predators, but it just makes me love. 2) Blanket octopus females are 10,000 times bigger than males. Not only does this beauty have gorgeous floating membranes, it can rapidly change colors. ![]()
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