Hi, I'm a Mimic Octopus. You may know me by my Latin or scientific name, Thaumoctopus mimicus.
So I guess I'm a little new to this 'blogging' thing. But living in the sea is quite similar to what humans call 'living under a rock'- I don't get out much. Or ever, really.
I think I'll start off this experience by telling you a bit of who am I, where I live, etc. The basics.
Currently, there isn't much information indicating whether my species is endangered or not. Heck, my best guess is as good as yours when it comes to this population stuff. And your best guess is that we probably aren't endangered, but since my species is often challenging to identify, it's hard to say.
Me and my kin prefer to live in estuaries, the areas in which fresh and salt water meet, often at river mouths, where the fresh water spills into the ocean. Personally, I made my habitat off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, the spot where the first ever mimic octopus was spotted in 1998. But we have also been observed in places like Bali, Indonesia, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, and Malaysia.
Shallow, warm estuaries are rich with nutrients and are often pretty murky and muddy, perfect for blending in, as us mimic octopuses are naturally striped with beige/brown and white. It's thought that part of the reason we developed the ability to mimic is because our location, unlike a reef, does not give us many hiding places.
Here's where this thing called "diversity among species" comes in. Like I said, I live in Indonesia, so I am surrounded by different animals than mimic octopuses in say, Australia, where they live in a reef. They have other kinds of predators, and another variety of poisonous/venomous sea creatures to imitate in order to fool them.
So I guess I'm a little new to this 'blogging' thing. But living in the sea is quite similar to what humans call 'living under a rock'- I don't get out much. Or ever, really.
I think I'll start off this experience by telling you a bit of who am I, where I live, etc. The basics.
Currently, there isn't much information indicating whether my species is endangered or not. Heck, my best guess is as good as yours when it comes to this population stuff. And your best guess is that we probably aren't endangered, but since my species is often challenging to identify, it's hard to say.
Me and my kin prefer to live in estuaries, the areas in which fresh and salt water meet, often at river mouths, where the fresh water spills into the ocean. Personally, I made my habitat off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, the spot where the first ever mimic octopus was spotted in 1998. But we have also been observed in places like Bali, Indonesia, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, and Malaysia.
Shallow, warm estuaries are rich with nutrients and are often pretty murky and muddy, perfect for blending in, as us mimic octopuses are naturally striped with beige/brown and white. It's thought that part of the reason we developed the ability to mimic is because our location, unlike a reef, does not give us many hiding places.
Here's where this thing called "diversity among species" comes in. Like I said, I live in Indonesia, so I am surrounded by different animals than mimic octopuses in say, Australia, where they live in a reef. They have other kinds of predators, and another variety of poisonous/venomous sea creatures to imitate in order to fool them.
This is what I look like when I am not trying to blend in or mimic. My entire body measures to about 60 cm long, and each of my tentacles (of which I have eight, like all the other octopuses I know) measure to approximately 25. Not only are we pretty small in size, but we also live small lives.
Since the male dies shortly after giving the sperm to the female, and the female dies right before her eggs hatch, the mimic octopus has quite a minuscule life span; only 9 months!
I suppose I should tell you a bit about my family. I am in the octopodidae family, which is basically the category that the majority of known octopus species fall under. One of my relatives I know you humans like to avoid is the venomous Blue-Ringed Octopus. You've probably heard of some more of them, like the Umbrella Octopus, maybe even the Giant Antarctic or the Caribbean Dwarf Octopus, to name a couple. And I am also a part of the cephalopod class, a broader category, with other animals like squid and cuttlefish.
Anyway, you'll see me in my next blog post. I think I will try to talk about my neighbouring species and our interactions next time, if all goes according to plan. Sorry, nothing about my legendary mimicry yet.
Since the male dies shortly after giving the sperm to the female, and the female dies right before her eggs hatch, the mimic octopus has quite a minuscule life span; only 9 months!
I suppose I should tell you a bit about my family. I am in the octopodidae family, which is basically the category that the majority of known octopus species fall under. One of my relatives I know you humans like to avoid is the venomous Blue-Ringed Octopus. You've probably heard of some more of them, like the Umbrella Octopus, maybe even the Giant Antarctic or the Caribbean Dwarf Octopus, to name a couple. And I am also a part of the cephalopod class, a broader category, with other animals like squid and cuttlefish.
Anyway, you'll see me in my next blog post. I think I will try to talk about my neighbouring species and our interactions next time, if all goes according to plan. Sorry, nothing about my legendary mimicry yet.