The Bloop: Ellu Talks About Weird Marine Stuff
so I found tHIS SPECIAL GIRL ON THE INTERNET and had a squeal
what originally was a question about 'hey what are those orb things on its arms' turned into a deep dive on marine biology
so, hey, Let's Learn About The Blanket Octopus!
(img source: https://twitter.com/echinoblog/status/951505827751280640 ) https://awoo.space/media/wARGgKAybScwXwCbK3o
The Bloop: Ellu Talks About Weird Marine Stuff
This special special girl seen above is a blanket octopus, Tremoctopus sp.
They're typically found in tropical oceans, not too far from the surface. Gulf of mexico, Great Barrier Reef, so on.
The thing that sticks out the most is- well, that blanket! That giant web-frill it has is actually a defensive mechanism. The unfurled blanket makes them look *much* larger, and can detach from its body and swim away if a predator bites into it.
The Bloop: Ellu Talks About Weird Marine Stuff
(i mean, yeah, if i was an octopus-eater and i saw this swimming by, i'd probably try to grab it by that blanket too. oops! It comes off, and the octopus swims away.)
But that's not the only interesting bit of intel about this species! They actually have a bunch of fucky shit goin' on with 'em.
https://awoo.space/media/5nsSpgXGqDuSwqp0IPg
[img source: http://tolweb.org/Tremoctopus ]
The Bloop: Ellu Talks About Weird Marine Stuff
One:
That bit where I said /females/ were about ~2m long? Males are...~2cm.
Centimeters.
This species has one of the most extreme sexual dimorphisms known, by a weight diff of somewhere between 10-40,000 to 1.
That's like a human female being normal-sized
and a male being a walnut.
Relatedly, that's why it took until 2002 to actually spot a live specimen in the wild. by chance. on a night dive.
(this is a tiny, tiny boy)
The Bloop: Ellu Talks About Weird Marine Stuff (quick citation)
[img source: https://www.wired.com/2015/03/absurd-creature-week-blanket-octopus/]
(i'm trying to be faithful about sourcing my pictures as best i can, so, pardon my sloppiness in any of this! 💜 )
