Picture above from http://www.tolweb.org/tremoctopus
More scientific info there also.
Very cool… This came to me in an e-mail today. I don't know who wrote this text, but here is some information about the video and the beautiful creature in it, the Blanket Octopus:
This video of a swimming Tremoctopus or “blanket octopus” was shot in the Gulf of Mexico in 180 feet of water at Eugene Island South Addition Block 330 in October, 2008. The location is 100 miles from the Flower Garden Banks, close to Sweet Bank, on the outer continental shelf west of Mississippi Canyon. The video appears to be from an industrial ROV performing inspections on an oil rig.The footage is real, but the species is *unknown. The genus is characterized by extreme sexual dimorphism. Males are ~100 times smaller than females. A similar animal washed up on the beach near Miami, FL last Friday, apparently, and another in 1964, according to NOAA Fisheries Biologist Heather Balchowsky. Special thanks to James Wiseman for the information and Emma Hickerson, FGBNMS for the tip and the link. The trailing web can detach from the host and distract any predator. (Visible mid-way in the video, probably because of the cameraman.) The discarded web attaches itself to the predator, allowing escape.
This video of a swimming Tremoctopus or “blanket octopus” was shot in the Gulf of Mexico in 180 feet of water at Eugene Island South Addition Block 330 in October, 2008. The location is 100 miles from the Flower Garden Banks, close to Sweet Bank, on the outer continental shelf west of Mississippi Canyon. The video appears to be from an industrial ROV performing inspections on an oil rig.The footage is real, but the species is *unknown. The genus is characterized by extreme sexual dimorphism. Males are ~100 times smaller than females. A similar animal washed up on the beach near Miami, FL last Friday, apparently, and another in 1964, according to NOAA Fisheries Biologist Heather Balchowsky. Special thanks to James Wiseman for the information and Emma Hickerson, FGBNMS for the tip and the link. The trailing web can detach from the host and distract any predator. (Visible mid-way in the video, probably because of the cameraman.) The discarded web attaches itself to the predator, allowing escape.
*Well, I dispute that, since the scientific site listed above has quite a bit of information about this creature, some of it from the 1970's. But it is very little known -- and quite amazing and beautiful! There are so many wonders in this world that we are only now beginning to find! So much still to be discovered!
Wow!
Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
"The Universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." ~Eden Phillpotts
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