MASA Admin
Moderator
- Joined
- 8 May 2007
- Posts
- 14,097
- Reaction score
- 218
The tiny Hairy Octopus is one of the cutest creatures we have come across, and at around 5cm (2inch) long, you won’t want to blink or you might miss it.
This well disguised cephalopod gets it names from the long ‘hairy’ tissue covering its tiny little body and, to the untrained eye you may easily mistake the hairy octopus for an orangutan crab or a tuft of algae floating along the sea floor. This master of camouflage can range in color from white, brown and vibrant red, either with or without patterns or spots.
Two Red Hairy Octopus after mating, Photo Credit: Serge Abourjeily, NAD Lembeh
Both the California adorabilis octopus and Wunderpus octopus have had their internet claim to fame, but we think the time is now for this floating little puffball of cuteness to take over the Internet one tentacle at a time!
However don’t all rush to your nearest dive site and start staring at red algae hoping for a glimpse of this holy grail species. For one people will think you’ve gone a little crazy just staring at the ground, and two the hairy octopus is only known to occur in the Lembeh strait off North-Sulawesi Island Indonesia.
A well camouflaged hairy octopus can easily be mistaken for a tuft of red algae. Photo Credit: Patrick Vuilleme, Lembeh Resort
For now you will have to settle with these images from the Lembeh Resort, and NAD-Lembeh. And, if like me you are at all sceptic that this really is an octopus, check out this video by Eco divers Resort Lembeh of the hairy octopus in action.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Readers also viewed:
Continue reading...
This well disguised cephalopod gets it names from the long ‘hairy’ tissue covering its tiny little body and, to the untrained eye you may easily mistake the hairy octopus for an orangutan crab or a tuft of algae floating along the sea floor. This master of camouflage can range in color from white, brown and vibrant red, either with or without patterns or spots.
Two Red Hairy Octopus after mating, Photo Credit: Serge Abourjeily, NAD Lembeh
Both the California adorabilis octopus and Wunderpus octopus have had their internet claim to fame, but we think the time is now for this floating little puffball of cuteness to take over the Internet one tentacle at a time!
However don’t all rush to your nearest dive site and start staring at red algae hoping for a glimpse of this holy grail species. For one people will think you’ve gone a little crazy just staring at the ground, and two the hairy octopus is only known to occur in the Lembeh strait off North-Sulawesi Island Indonesia.
A well camouflaged hairy octopus can easily be mistaken for a tuft of red algae. Photo Credit: Patrick Vuilleme, Lembeh Resort
For now you will have to settle with these images from the Lembeh Resort, and NAD-Lembeh. And, if like me you are at all sceptic that this really is an octopus, check out this video by Eco divers Resort Lembeh of the hairy octopus in action.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Readers also viewed:
- Lembeh now has the second highest reef fish diversity in the world
- Macronesia takes a closer look at octopuses
- Eviota algida is cute new species of nano goby from the heart of Indonesia
- Hilarious video brings us “True Facts About The Octopus”
- Paracheilinus rennyae, a new flasher wrasse from Flores Indonesia
- Larger Pacific Striped Octopus is rediscovered, comes from Nicaragua
- Cirrhilabrus humanni “Stubby-fin Fairy Wrasse” from Alor, Indonesia officially described
- Giganthias serratospinosus is a new anthias from Lombok, Indonesia
Continue reading...