Cephalopods
Mimic Octopus
Thaumoctopus mimicus · Cephalopod mollusk — family Octopodidae; described in 2005 after its late-1990s discovery on Indonesian muck
Plenty of octopuses match backgrounds; the mimic octopus impersonates other animals. First noticed on Sulawesi muck in the late 1990s, it forages exposed on bare silt in daylight, and its survival act is a repertoire: flattening into a gliding flounder, trailing banded arms like lionfish spines, or hiding all but two arms in a burrow and waving a convincing banded sea krait. Which impression appears seems to track which predator threatens. Longer lists get claimed — jellyfish, anemones, mantis shrimp — and deserve some skepticism; the core three are well documented. The animal itself is slight, brown-and-white banded, arms like linguine, probing worm holes across featureless slopes. Whole dives at black-sand sites are built around finding one. Stay off the silt, follow at arm's length, and let the show be voluntary.
Где и когда увидеть
«Постоянные» — значит, большинство погружений в этом месте позволяет встретить их; «сезонные» — значит, они стабильно присутствуют в указанные месяцы; всё остальное — приятный бонус, а не повод строить планы.
| Направление | Достоверность | Месяцы | Примечания |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bali & Nusa PenidaIndonesia | Occasional | Круглый год | |
| Lembeh StraitIndonesia | Occasional | Круглый год | |
| AnilaoPhilippines | Occasional | Круглый год | |
| Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines | Occasional | Круглый год | |
| Banda Sea & AmbonIndonesia | Occasional | Круглый год |
Лучший месяц — коротко
Как их понять
Среда обитания: Bare silt and black-sand flats near river mouths and muck bays, foraging around worm holes and burrows it can dive into.
Ареал: Indo-Malayan region — Indonesia and the Philippines through to northern Australia and New Guinea.
Поведение: Forages exposed in daylight on featureless bottom, switching between impersonations — a gliding flounder, trailing lionfish-like arms, or a banded sea krait waved from a burrow — apparently matched to the threat at hand.
Рацион питания: Small crustaceans and fishes probed out of burrows with linguine-thin arms.
Размер: как правило, около 0.4 m; задокументировано до 0.6 m (arm-span; the arms are strikingly slender).
Как вести себя рядом с ним
Follow at arm's length off the bottom, never dig, corral, or bait, and let every impersonation be the animal's own idea.
Охрана природы
Not reliably assessed; its narrow, developable coastal habitat and value to dive tourism argue for keeping muck bays healthy.
Известные места на карте
Смотреть
Из официальных источников
Best Places to Dive with Whale Sharks
Outrageously Tiny Fish
Sink or Swim? with Monét X Change | Monterey Bay Aquarium
Видео — это встроенные ссылки на каналы их авторов: мы ничего не размещаем у себя и указываем все источники.