Michael Eisenbart
Info
Octopus kaurna Stranks, 1990
Cephalopods are often hailed as masters of camouflage, they can adapt their body color and patterning to their environment in seconds and literally blend into their surroundings.
This adaptation is very often an absolute protection for predators, even hatched juveniles begin to camouflage shortly after hatching, which they can achieve thanks to their chromatophores.
But what to do if "one" lacks these so useful chromatophores?
Of course, the Southern Sand Octopus did not ask itself this question, nature "provided" it with an ingenious protective alternative:
Octopus kaurna is nocturnal and searches for small crustaceans by sticking its thin arms into burrows and holes.
If a predator suddenly approaches, the octopus has two ways of evading the predator:
It is able to quickly move many meters away using its recoil principle, if this tactic fails to shake off the predator, the octopus uses its secret weapon:
This octopus can burrow into the sand very quickly by producing its own quicksand. It pumps rapid jets of water into the sand, causing the sand to bubble and loosen it up. then it dives in before the sand settles again,
As it sinks into the sand, the octopus pulls two arms behind it and deposits a layer of slime to reinforce the walls of the cave.
Next, the octopus extends two arms to the surface, creating a vetilation shaft for breathing, and uses mucus to maintain the shape of the cave.
In the end, it retracts its arms and exhales forcefully to push out the loose sand before settling into its new lair.
Color:
Base color of uniform orange-cream to chestnut red.
Occasionally forages, taking an elongate shape and pinkish ground color with a dark maroon stripe on each side from the mantle to the tips of the arms,
which runs through the eye.
Divers and swimmers should not touch the octopus, it can bite hard!
Cephalopods are often hailed as masters of camouflage, they can adapt their body color and patterning to their environment in seconds and literally blend into their surroundings.
This adaptation is very often an absolute protection for predators, even hatched juveniles begin to camouflage shortly after hatching, which they can achieve thanks to their chromatophores.
But what to do if "one" lacks these so useful chromatophores?
Of course, the Southern Sand Octopus did not ask itself this question, nature "provided" it with an ingenious protective alternative:
Octopus kaurna is nocturnal and searches for small crustaceans by sticking its thin arms into burrows and holes.
If a predator suddenly approaches, the octopus has two ways of evading the predator:
It is able to quickly move many meters away using its recoil principle, if this tactic fails to shake off the predator, the octopus uses its secret weapon:
This octopus can burrow into the sand very quickly by producing its own quicksand. It pumps rapid jets of water into the sand, causing the sand to bubble and loosen it up. then it dives in before the sand settles again,
As it sinks into the sand, the octopus pulls two arms behind it and deposits a layer of slime to reinforce the walls of the cave.
Next, the octopus extends two arms to the surface, creating a vetilation shaft for breathing, and uses mucus to maintain the shape of the cave.
In the end, it retracts its arms and exhales forcefully to push out the loose sand before settling into its new lair.
Color:
Base color of uniform orange-cream to chestnut red.
Occasionally forages, taking an elongate shape and pinkish ground color with a dark maroon stripe on each side from the mantle to the tips of the arms,
which runs through the eye.
Divers and swimmers should not touch the octopus, it can bite hard!
