Two Tentacles and a Disguise

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley and Universitas Sam Ratulangi in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, have discovered two species of octopus native to the Indian Ocean which can disguise themselves through the use of six of their tentacles. The other two tentacles are then used to ‘walk’ along the bottom of the ocean in order to fool predators used to their normal method of eight-legged travel.

The species Octopus marginatus wraps its tentacles around itself in the shape of a floating coconut, as can be seen in this video, while this footage shows the Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus species spreading its six tentacles out in the pattern of floating algae and skuttling off.

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