A Convincing Mimic: Scientists Report Octopus Imitating Flounder in the Atlantic
ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — On the open sand plains of the Caribbean seafloor, where soft-bodied animals are routinely exposed to predators, camouflage can be key to survival. Perhaps no group of animals is quite as adept at blending in with its surroundings as cephalopods, including cuttlefish and squid, which have evolved a unique skin system that can instantaneously change their appearance.
Left: Macrotritopus defilippi in the aquarium; note the long thin arms characteristic of the species. Right: Macrotritopus defilippi swimming forward and mimicking the shape, speed, and behavior of flounder swimming. (Credit: Left: Photo by John Forsythe; Right: Photo by R. Hanlon)
In the February 2010 issue of The Biological Bulletin, MBL Senior Scientist and cephalopod expert Roger Hanlon and his colleagues report the exceptional camouflage capabilities of the Atlantic longarm octopus, Macrotritopus defilippi, whose strategy for avoiding predators includes expertly disguising itself as a flounder. While Hanlon and others have documented two other species of octopuses imitating flounder in Indonesian waters, this is the first report of flounder mimicry by an Atlantic octopus, and only the fourth convincing case of mimicry for cephalopods.
Comparing still photographs and video footage from five Caribbean locations collected over the last decade, Hanlon and co-authors, MBL graduate students Anya Watson and Alexandra Barbosa, observed uncanny similarities between the small and delicate octopus and the peacock flounder, Bothus lunatus, one of the most common sand dwellers in the Caribbean. They compared not only coloration, which in each animal resembled the sandy seafloor, but swimming speed and form.
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© 2010 Marine Biological Laboratory
A "Mimic Octopus" in the Atlantic: Flatfish Mimicry and Camouflage by Macrotritopus defilippiRoger T. Hanlon1,*, Anya C. Watson1 and Alexandra Barbosa1,2,
1 Marine Resources Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02540
2 ICBAS—Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Portugal
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rhanlon@mbl.edu
The sand-dwelling octopus Macrotritopus defilippi was filmed or photographed in five Caribbean locations mimicking the swimming behavior (posture, style, speed, duration) and coloration of the common, sand-dwelling flounder Bothus lunatus.Each species was exceptionally well camouflaged when stationary, and details of camouflaging techniques are described forM. defilippi. Octopuses implemented flounder mimicry only during swimming, when their movement would give away camouflage in this open sandy habitat. Thus, both camouflage and fish mimicry were used by the octopuses as a primary defense against visual predators. This is the first documentation of flounder mimicry by an Atlantic octopus, and only the fourth convincing case of mimicry for cephalopods, a taxon renowned for its polyphenism that is implemented mainly by neurally controlled skin patterning, but also—as shown here—by their soft flexible bodies.
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