NEW SPECIES ALERT OCTOPUS!
Whenever I see an article announcing a new species, it’s usually about some bacteria or slug. Not that they don’t deserve a spot in the ecosystem, but well, slugs are not exciting.
Octopuses definitely are! All types of octopus are smart! Plus, they are masters of disguise. Their cool appearance and unique behavior make the octopus legendary and loved.
NEW TYPE OF OCTOPUS! DUMBO OCTOPUS
My enticing build-up is leading to the fact that there’s a new species of octopus!
This new type of octopus has flippers coming out the sides of its head! (the photo above was taken several years ago, but there is red tape involved when officially adding a new species.)
Scientists even named this new type of octopus ‘Dumbo’ after the Disney character, Dumbo the elephant, who used his ears to fly. (I never saw this movie…did you?)
Let’s not confuse cute elephants with cute octopuses.
Of course, that would never happen, even though both species are highly intelligent! And adorable.
Not to mention that elephants are classified as mammalia and octopuses are cephalopods.
CEPHALOPODS...what the heck are they? OCTOPUS FACTS
Octopuses (Yes this is the correct plural term…I looked it up!) are cephalopods, a small group of highly advanced animals (In Latin, Cephalopoda, means “head foot.”) to include eight-armed octopuses, ten-armed squids and cuttlefishes, and shelled chambered nautiluses.
Cephalopods are always found in oceans, never lakes. (It’s great to find a concrete rule!) They were once one of the dominant life forms in the world’s oceans. Today there are only about 800 living species of cephalopods. (compare that with 32,000 living species of bony fish and 10,000 species of birds)
800 TYPES OF OCTOPUS
NEW TYPE OF OCTOPUS: DUMBO OCTOPUS FACTS
With only 800 species or types of octopus, it’s pretty exciting to find a new type of octopus! The new species is technically a Grimpoteuthis, which is a member of the umbrella family, called Opisthoteuthidae.
This family of octopus still has eight arms, like all types of octopuses. The difference is the webbing between their arms, resembling an umbrella. (I’m not going to take a picture of an umbrella. Umbrellas aren’t cute)
The Dumbo octopus are all found near the bottoms of deep oceans. Perhaps this is an adaptation to help this type of octopus crawl along the seafloor.
Webbing is useful for all types of octopus to encase their prey, to keep it from escaping.
Dumbo octopus below, sideways view so the telltale flaps aren’t quite as noticeable.
Dumbo octopuses are 14 to 17 inches long.
They’ve been captured on film ‘hopping’ from place to place on the seabed.
Not everything is scary in the ocean depths!
They have been sighted off the coasts of New Zealand, Australia, California, Oregon, Philippines, New Guinea, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. (MA feels like an outlier to me)
See map (on right) with arrow designating some sightings.
OCTOPUSES ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT
The octopus is considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates. They have the largest brain and are the only invertebrate to use tools. (This is a marker for intelligence, also exhibited by elephants, crows, and dolphins)
I am excited to report that I have an article in the October 202o issue of Faces magazine about crows and ravens!
An octopus named Otto was known to throw rocks and spray water at the bright overhead lights of his aquarium in order to short them out. He even cracked the glass in his tank!
In 2016, another type of octopus named Inky escaped from his tank at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.
Inky, the size of a basketball, managed to squeeze into a gap in its tank, slide across the floor and down a 164-foot-long drainpipe to the ocean.
Inky is still at large today.
His ex-tank mate Blotchy, isn’t talking.
Octopuses are not only great escape artists, but are also curious, can develop unique personalities, and have been known to recognize individual faces.
Here’s a video of an octopus escaping from a sealed jar!
And another video of an octopus named Rambo, taking photographs of her visitors!
Do octopuses have red blood?
OCTOPUSES HAVE BLUE BLOOD
INCREDIBLE CAMOUFLAGE
Who needs an invisibility cloak? (more on the magic of invisibility here)
Because all types of octopus live under intense predation pressure, they’ve evolved an effective and impressive camouflaging ability! They put chameleons to shame.
Special pigment cells in octopus skin give octopuses the power to change color, pattern and even textures on command, to match their surroundings. They can hide in plain sight!
THREE TYPES OF SPECIALIZED OCTOPUS CELLS
The cells are muscle-controlled, expanding and contracting on command to help the animal blend in with its surroundings, or to communicate with other animals. The topmost cells are called chromatophores. They are dye- filled sacs with red, yellow brown or black colored ink.
The middle layer of cells are called iridophores. They create an array of glittering blues, greens, and golds. These cells don’t open and close but the octopus can change the angel of each cell to reflect light like a tiny mirror.
At the deepest skin layer are cells called leucophores. They can create a white shine.
ARE OCTOPUSES COLOR-BLIND?
YES!
Here’s the strange fact ; Octopuses are color-blind!
Most types of octopus can also spray a cloud of black into obscure itself from an attacker. The ink even dulls the predator’s sense of smell, making the octopus more difficult to track. (Sharks, eels, and dolphins love to eat them)
Fun video below, even with the typo. We all make mistakes.
If necessary, all types of octopus can sacrifice an arm and regrow it later. They also have venomous saliva, used more to subdue prey than as defense.
Are all octopuses venomous?
YES!
The fact that Inky the Octopus chose liberty and danger from sharks, eels, and dolphins over safety and hand feeding of his favorite foods at a national aquarium, made me boycott eating octopuses for dinner!
There’s even a World Octopus Day! (October 8th.) You could accuse me of poorly timing this post, but I can’t help when the new species are announced.
Have you ever eaten octopus?
There is a correct answer here!
NEW TYPE OF OCTOPUS
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Thanks for stopping by.
Great !! Very informative!! Love the insert of Louie!!
Even though Louie is a mammal, he’s cute so he needed to be in the post, too! Thanks.
Great educational information about octopuses in general. It is so cool that they discovered a new species.
Octopuses are fascinating so it was tough to stop myself from writing even more. New species are cool! Thanks.
Love this! I just finished reading a great sci-fi book about sentient octopi, Children of Ruin–it’s a sequel to Children of Time, which featured sentient spiders. Both were excellent and did a great job of imagining how they would think and act.
I read Children of Time, which I found clever and inventive. I’m definitely going to look for the sequel! Glad you liked my post. Thanks!
You’ve got so much information, I think this is fantastic from an education point of view, this could help many children in the years to come 😁
I’d love that, if I could contribute in some small way! Thanks.
Excellent post, Sue. I especially liked the stories about naughty Otto who evidently understood electrical circuits better than me and Inky, who could have been named Houdini. 🙂
Houdini! A more apt name for Inky. Thanks so much!
This is one of the best yet. Looove octupuses and you went well beyond the superficial. Nice. Besides, you really had me hooked with the intro.
I love octopuses, too! Thanks so much.
Wow! It is really cool to hear that they are still discovering new species. The world is a beautiful place. And I love the name Dumbo for this octopus. So fitting.
Dumbo is very fitting for a name, I agree! Thanks.
I love how educational all your posts are and how much time & research goes into each one! Thank you for sharing this blog post. I think it is crazy that we’re still discovering new species, even in today’s modern society. Just makes you think what else is in the deep dark depths of the ocean!
Em x
https://www.loveemblog.com
I agree, it’s wild that we’re still discovering new species! A lot goes on under the surface. (pun intended) Thanks!
This is such a cool post, I’ve never read anything like it! I love visiting marine wildlife centres and aquariums with my boyfriend and we learn so much while we’re there!
🌿 Marissa Belle | marsybun.com x 🌿
Thanks so much! I love visiting marine centers and aquariums, too!
Oh wow! This is so cool! I did not know that a new species of octopus has been discovered! Thanks for sharing all the info about it! I’m always fascinated by sea life!
Sea life is amazing, I agree. I find the differences between marine dwellers and us endlessly intriguing. Thanks.
I remember when the announced the discovery of the “Dumbo” octopus. I also saw it in a wildlife documentary recently
Cool! I’ll need to look for that documentary.
Great way to start today reading about a new species. Your posts are always amazing and this one was truly superb. I would still be afraid to see one in the wild if I was swimming. Louie is cute as always. Keep up the great work. Mike
I am a goofy dog mom, without question. One of our boys thinks octopuses are ‘a little creepy,’ maybe because they’re so smart! I bet you’ve swam past an octopus and didn’t even realize it! Thanks.
A very cool post, really informative! Such a cute octopus!
Thanks so much!
Inky is still at large today.
His ex-tank mate Blotchy, isn’t talking. – Still laughing 🙂 You do a great job mixing humor and science!
Thanks! I hope Inky is happy, wherever he is!
Ooh this was such an interesting post, I’ve definitely learnt something new!
Tash – http://www.agirlwithview.co.uk
Fantastic to hear! Thank you so much.
They are so fascinating! I love hearing about new creatures, There’s so much we still don’t know about the world.
I know, the ocean still holds so many intriguing mysteries. I love reading about new creatures, too! Thanks.
This is soooooo exciting, I showed my wannabe marine biologist daughter your post and she LOVED it too. Octopuses are amazing creatures, aren’t they? Probably my favourite sea creature, after sea horses. Loved this post Sue, thank you so much for sharing 🙂 Lisa
I’m SO excited that you showed your daughter my post and she liked it! Hurrah! I also love sea horses. I just read about a new species and definitely want to compile a few cool facts and pics. …I hate to write two posts in a row about new species, though. (Still new at blogging and unsure how to stagger science topics.) Thank you, Lisa!
This is fascinating, you blog post is really good!
Thanks so much! I’m happy you stopped by!
An octopus called Dumbo, how cute!
Definitely fitting, too! Thanks.
Aww I love its ears! It’s almost cute. And yes, I’ve eaten octopus. It was delicious!
HAHA! Not the answer I was looking for!
I love your post. It so educational, I didn’t know about dumbo and I am so glad I came across your post. Thank you for sharing.
Darina from http://www.daramiblog.com
I’m so glad you came across my post, too! Stop by again! Thanks.
Whoa! Who knew octopuses were such interesting creatures. The dumbo octopus is so cute but it’s too big for me to have it as a pet sadly lol.
I’d love to have one, too. I doubt I’m enough of an expert on marine care to attempt it! It’s bad enough when a plant doesn’t make it. I’d be heartbroken if something happened to a pet octopus.
This is actually such an exciting post. I never really found octopus cute until now, so interesting too! Thanks for sharing.
Holly
http://www.adailydoseofholly.com
I’m glad you found my post exciting.Thanks so much!
Ah I didn’t know this! How exciting that a new species was found – he is kinda cute!
Okay, he’s not Hemsy but he’s cute for an octopus! Thanks!
Ooooh Dumbo is the cutest name!!
https://www.emilyclareskinner.com
Dumbo doesn’t reflect octopus smarts, but it IS a cute name! And probably better for conservation efforts! Thanks.
This is so cool! But no, I don’t want to eat one….Thanks for sharing this !
Happy that you’re in the not-eat-the octopus faction! Thanks!
Octopuses are such fascinating creatures, I’d no seen much about the “umbrella” ones before, thanks for sharing.
Ps. Yes I have seen Dumbo 😂
HA! I forgot to ask if you recommend that movie or not! Thanks.
This is such a cool blog post! I absolutely love reading your blog, I always discover something new and I find it so inspiring… thank you so much for writing!
Thank you so much for reading my posts! I love that you find my blog inspiring!
Wow, I really enjoyed reading this. Great information, the YouTube videos in the post are so helpful, learnt so much about Octopus. I was just WOW throughout the post. Thank you for sharing
And now I’ll say WOW. Thanks so much for reading my post! Glad you found the information great.
Wow!!!!!! Lovely sea creatures. Thank you for sharing a lot of facts on octopuses. I think I will visit this blog again the next time. Keep on posting this kinda post ya. Tq.
I’d love it if you’d visit again. And subscribe?! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Wow! So informative! And how cute is the Dumbo Octopus! I really enjoyed all the information you shared. Thank you 🙂
I’m pumped that you enjoyed the info! Thank you!
This was really interesting, and I never knew there were so many species or so much to learn about octopi
I even held back on facts. There’s tons to explore with octopuses. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh wow, this is so exciting! I had no idea about this, so thank you for educating me on the matter. I didn’t know there were so many species xx
Hannah | https://luxuryblush.co.uk/
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you, it was very interesting.
Thank you so much!
Hi Susan, really interesting article. I have a question about octopus my daughter found recently while we were night fishing for squids on a private pier in Montauk New York. The unique feature about this little octopus was it had the large fins on it mantle like the deep sea dumbo octopus that I’m familiar with. We took video and photo of the octopus before releasing it but I can’t find any information about this type of octopus anywhere on the internet. I’m hoping you can help to direct us to someone that may. Please advise if you able to help so we can exchange contact information. Appreciated and thank you in advance.
Shewen
Hi Shewen, What an exciting adventure, to catch and release a cephalopod!
It’s difficult to identify octopus just from pics. And perusing databases like the National Resource Center for Cephalopods is an exercise in frustration, IMHO. Most experts would probably tell you that they need the live specimen to be accurate. You could try uploading your photo to this forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/hitchhiker-critter-id.895/ where many enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers contribute. Please check back with me if they have any info!