Handling (!) H. Lunulata

[Lev]

I recently saw this on Youtube:

It states that the octopus those people are holding is H. Lunulata. It gave me a really gut wrenching feeling when I first saw this. Can someone place an Identification on this octopus? To me it kind of seemed large-ish for an H. lunulata (from the ones I've seen anyhow) is it really an H. lunulata?

 

[Taollan]

AHHHHHHHHH , its too blury and fast for me to say for sure, but it looks like it is in the right for atleast the genus Haplochlaena (but then again I am not the best at tropical octos. Maybe Dr. Caldwell or one of his grad students will chime in). I am fearful enough of letting my O. rubescens get their beaks too close to me, that video was enough to give me nightmares.

 

[flamingo]

Smart Kids.

 

[erich orser]

This reminds me of the Blair brothers' documentary series Ring of Fire from many years back. At some point they also handled a blue-ringed octopus, not knowing what it was. It was flashing it's blues rather aggressively, if I recall. Many years later they showed this footage to David Attenborough, who jumped from his chair with an amazed cry of, "You fools!"

Smart kids, but kids are like that. Smart parents should be more like it.

 

[norgebyblood]

oi vei! ive handled my briareus and im fin with him, but i'll pass on extreme sport: blue rings. eeek, theres a lawsuit waiting to happen! we always joked about me getting a blue ring accidently for my school project and then getting bit and the paper finding out. can you imagine "high school student killed by octopus in research project!" on the front page?! and we're one of the best sci. fair schools in the state!

 

[cthulhu77]

Candidates for the Darwin Award if you ask me.