However, aside from the information reported by Hanlon et al. It was identified as Octopus defilippi (the genus was subsequently changed) on the basis of the very long arms, small body size, skin sculpture, and body patterning ( Hanlon, 1988). Croix, Virgin Islands, transported them to the laboratory, and cultured one to adult size. (1985) captured live macrotritopus paralarvae at night-lighting stations in St. The paralarvae of this species were, for 100 years, reported as “macrotritopus larvae” with unknown adult identity (see Grimpe, 1922 Rees, 1954). Macrotritopus defilippi is a small, poorly known sand dweller that attains sizes up to 90 mm in mantle length. (2005) demonstrated that this sexual mimicry led to increased mate choice by the female as well as to immediate fertilizations. Among cuttlefish, small males of Sepia apama, the giant Australian cuttlefish, were found to mimic the posture and coloration of females to visually deceive the large consort males and obtain matings ( Norman et al., 1999 Hall and Hanlon, 2002) and Hanlon et al. (2008) suggested the possibility that, when motionless, both octopus species might be mimicking some of the few sessile organisms present on the open sand plains: colonial tunicates, sponges, and tubes of polychaete worms. (2001) and some authors in the non-scientific literature ( e.g., Steene, 1998) have suggested other wide-ranging cases of mimicry by Thaumoctopus mimicus, although these remain unsubstantiated. (2008) as “blandopus”-were documented as mimicking flounder swimming in Indonesia ( Norman et al., 2001 Norman and Hochberg, 2005 Hanlon et al., 2008). The mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, and an unidentified octopus-possibly the octopus referred to by Norman (2000) as “White V octopus, Octopus sp. Only recently was mimicry demonstrated in octopus, and these were sand-dwelling species in the Indo-Pacific. Mimicry is commonly understood to imply the resemblance of one animal (the mimic) to another (the model) such that a third animal is deceived by their physical similarity into confusing the two (cf. Here we report observations from five widespread locations that the Atlantic longarm octopus, Macrotritopus defilippi Verany, 1851, when swimming on open sand plains, apparently mimicked the swimming behavior, posture, and coloration of a common flatfish, the plate fish (or peacock flounder) Bothus lunatus (Linnaeus, 1758). ![]() For example, octopuses in many habitats take advantage of corals, algae, rock, etc., to implement slow, camouflaged stealth movements ( e.g., Hanlon et al., 1999). For soft-bodied, vulnerable octopuses in open habitats such as sand plains, this poses a problem because daily foraging requires movement without the protection of habitat structure. ![]() Movement gives away camouflage under most circumstances (see Cott, 1940).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |