Curl Up with a Blanket Octopus

December 7, 2010 · by CarlyB · in bizarre, blanket octopus, sea

image credit: allcreatures.tumblr.com

image credit: pinktentacle.com

image credit: tolweb.org

image credit: atom.com

Maleimage credit: byhusbandsforhusbands.wordpress.com
Habitat: pelagic zones of subtropical and tropical oceans
Status: Not evaluated

If you’ve seen the movie Oceans then you will probably recognize this bizarre creature. If you haven’t seen the movie I HIGHLY recommend it – the cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. But this creature here is a Blanket Octopus defined by the long transparent webs that are connected to the arms of the adult female octopus.

What’s funny about these creatures is their pronounced sexual dimorphism – females can grow to over 2 meters in length whereas the teeny males only reach around a few centimeters!

Blanket octopuses also have a few tricks up their sleeves. The creatures are immune to the venom of Portuguese Man o’ War and will actually rip off the jellyfish’s tentacles and carry them around for their own defense.

The most impressive defense mechanism though stems from the Blanket Octopuses lack of ink. Instead of using ink to scare off predators, the female (when threatened) will unfurl her large net-like membranes which billow gracefully in the water behind her. This “blanket” greatly increases her apparent size and I’m sure scares the bajeezes out of any potential predator.

Check out this great video of the Blanket Octopus unfurling her “blanket” and swimming about:

8 comments on “Curl Up with a Blanket Octopus”

1. Aniruddha H D on December 7, 2010 at 9:08 pm said:

   too cool :O

   Reply ↓
2. Mike Lisieski on December 8, 2010 at 5:11 am said:

   Hurrah for tremoctopus!Look at the tiny little male!

   Reply ↓
3. Anonymous on December 8, 2010 at 9:30 am said:

   I was like “Awesome!” after the first photo. The sexual dimorphism and the using jellyfish tentacles as weapons was just too much. I am humbled. Ia ia Blanket Octopus f’thagn.

   Reply ↓
4. Daughter Earth on December 8, 2010 at 4:10 pm said:

   for some reason it reminds me of that flying green girl in fantasia 2000 who brought spring to earth.http://www.thorabreinfey.com/Gallery/Terra_13.jpg

   Reply ↓
5. Daughter Earth on December 21, 2010 at 10:40 pm said:

   Here is a better way to see why it reminded me of a Blanket Octopus:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac-K8Pj7WD8&feature=relatedStart at 1 min 10 sec

   Reply ↓
6. Anonymous on April 3, 2011 at 11:48 pm said:

   aaaaaaaaaaamazzing!!!!

   Reply ↓
7. eggbomb7 on December 10, 2011 at 11:59 pm said:

   The blanket octopus is so cool! Imagine having one of those in your bed at night to keep you warm. Ha ha!:) It’s really interesting how they steal the tentacles off the jelly fish and use them for their own self defense.

   Reply ↓
8. angie on January 16, 2012 at 1:02 am said:

   wow! i would actually die with this animal. i mean actually DIE, my oxygen’s running out and this thing is chasing me!just kidding, but thumbs up who thought it was funny!

   Reply ↓