4 replies to this topic

[jim21]

I saw this octopus in 2m of water during the day.
Searching online the nearest I can come up with is the mosaic.
It did display a disc like pattern before I could get a photo, then it was a bit fluffy texture with pinkish colouring.

Thanks for any ID help.

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Edited by jim21, 29 October 2012 - 09:18 PM.

[MikeVeitch]

looks more like the Algae octo to me.. but i don't have any books with me to give you the latin name for that one. But I don't think its the mosaic

[jim21]

Thanks Mike,

It could be but it displayed very marked blotches before the photo was taken and the Algae octopus seems to be a lot more filamented not just on the head ?
I could not attach a photo here so I edited in another above that is not as clear but shows the blotches fading away.

[liquidguru]

Thanks Mike,

It could be but it displayed very marked blotches before the photo was taken and the Algae octopus seems to be a lot more filamented not just on the head ?
I could not attach a photo here so I edited in another above that is not as clear but shows the blotches fading away.

The Algae can go from smooth to filamented and everything in-between in less than a second, so it's hard to say it's not an Algae just by the skin texture. I have a video here showing it's different skin textures. The 'hair' are skin flaps that the octopus can form...it's called 'papillation' apparently

[jim21]

Nice video liquidguru.

It really demonstrates the skin change !
Octopus are so fasinating, it is interesting how body posture and method of movement can be useful for ID.
I sometimes see mototi and they also have a special (unique?) way that can ID them even before they display the 2 blue rings.