Nice Video of Coconut Octopus

[nanoteuthis]

Absolutely fantastic! Pardon my ignorance, but is the species really called "Coconut Octopus" or is there another common name? Or, for that matter, is this behavior seen in more than one species?

 

[allison finch]

In Indonesia, they really do call it a coconut octopus. It comes from their habit of taking two halves of a discarded coconut shell and holding them together with them inside. It is funny seeing them peeking out. As you approach, they slam the shells together. I did try to gently pry them open, to no avail. If you put strain into opening them, you could do them damage.

 

[mucktopus]

Before they hit the bigtime in the public eye they were known as the margined, or veined octopus because of the dark purple scribbling between the raised 'patches' in their skin. But the "coconut octopus" is so much more fun! Given that it lives in Lembeh- the Mecca of muck diving, it's no wonder so much footage of it has shown up in the past few years. I'm happy to see the little guys being appreciated and getting documented by so many people. Those are some fantastic shots posted in this thread!!

Yeah Dwhatley- not getting in much diving for work in these days, but I do have the occasional chance to sink and breathe- got to dive with small D. gigas in the Gulf of CA in May, and this summer went looking for the ever-elusive long-armed sand octo in Hawaii (its other common name is the $3000 octopus...and rising). The postdoc at MBARI is well worth a temporary hiatus from the equator (though I can't wait to get back as soon as logistically possible).

 

[allison finch]

True. Marginatus is their real name.