They Are Evolving: Octopus Goes From Opaque To Transparent In Seconds
Posted by Justin on November 10th, 2011
We’ve talked at length on the podcast about the intelligence and possible threat presented by Octopi. This will do nothing to bury those very real, justified fears.
Two deep-ocean species of cephalopod, an octopus and a squid, can go from transparent to opaque in the blink of an eye, a new study finds.
This impressive camouflage swap is an adaptation that likely keeps the cephalopods safe from two different types of predators. The first are deep-sea creatures that hunt by looking upward for prey silhouetted against the light filtering down through thousands of feet of water. The second are fish that spotlight prey in “biological” headlights. These fish use bioluminescence, their own body-driven light source, to hunt for food.
They can go invisible now? Maybe it is time to align with the sharks…
Twitter this
November 11th, 2011 at 4:13 am
Only join Team-Shark if you’re ready to be on the losing side. Team-Octopi is invisible and ready to strike when you least expect it.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:26 am
It looks like their hearts and eyes stay visible. Evolutionary glitch, not exactly the organs you want exposed…