![blanket octopus blanket octopus](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z4I8y4nqOnk/T4JuBC7brPI/AAAAAAAAFFc/5IpKPmYXdfU/s1600/blanket_octopus_500x328.jpg)
I know what you’re thinking…that this sounds like a polypoid zooid hydrozoan and you would be correct. In fact, it isn’t even a single organism but is rather a siphonophore which is a colony of separate individual parts though it is still a single species. This animal is also immune to the sting of a Portuguese man o war an animal similar to but not a jellyfish. When they mate the male holds up a sperm packet at the end of one of its arms and the female snaps the arm off. The males are between 10,000 and 40,000 smaller than the females this is called sexual body size dimorphism and this animal holds the record. The blanket octopus has some other startling characteristics. One of the most beautiful stories ever told There is a terrific book about octopuses called the Soul of an Octopus and of course the wildly seductive film My Octopus Teacher. They are, however, so intelligent that they have been widely reported to know and react to individual people and are so flexible that a 40 pounder can squish through a 2 inch hole. Well, father, look at us now.īut the octopus doesn’t know from politics. We say that George Washington was the father of our country. The United States of America was similarly constructed with some slave state arms and abolitionist arms. Like insects, each leg has a certain amount of autonomy essentially making its own decisions all the while respecting the central authority. One for each leg and another in the head. Octopuses have so many strange and different ways of being that they might be as alien as anything we would find on another planet.
#Blanket octopus free#
This fact is not surprising when one considers the myriad of other defense techniques the blanket octopus is armed with.This animal can also detach the blanket letting it float free to confound the predators and grow a new then one. Unlike other species of octopus, the blanket octopus does not eject ink to defend itself. As such, the octopus is known for ripping off a Man O’War tentacle and using it as a weapon. The blanket octopus is immune to the toxins found in the extremely poisonous Portuguese Man O’War jellyfish. In the event that the blanket defense tactics don’t pan out, the blanket octopus has another trick up it’s sleeve. If that trick doesn’t work, the octopus can then detach the blankets so the pursuing threat will become entangled. When fleeing from a potential threat, the octopus unfurls it’s blankets to appear larger. The blanket octopus actually uses them for defense.
![blanket octopus blanket octopus](http://ourmarinespecies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/blanket_octopuses_4.jpg)
The “blankets” of a blanket octopus are not for warmth or to aid in mobility. They detach their arm into the female and die shortly after mating. The male blanket octopus stores his sperm in a detachable arm. Fortunately, male blanket octopi have developed a solution. With the males and females differing in size by a wide margin, one might imagine that mating could present a few problems. Male blanket octopi are so small that their existence was all but myth until fishermen began pulling them up in their nets. Their male counterparts are only about an inch long when they are fully matured. Females can grow to over 6.5 feet in length. In blanket octopi, however, the difference is astonishing.
![blanket octopus blanket octopus](https://images.sonurai.com/BlanketOctopus_ROW1457886937.jpg)
This simply means that one sex is large than the other. Most species experience what is known as sexual dimorphism.
![blanket octopus blanket octopus](https://wetpixel.com/media/bartick_blanket_octopus/Bartick_blanket_octo_007.jpg)
Though little is known, here are a few blanket octopus facts of which we are sure. The membrane is actually a defensive mechanism, and functions much like the webbing on the feet of a frog. Characterized by a large membrane that span between arms, very little is actually known about these elusive creatures. Making their home in the deep ocean means that their contact with humans is uncommon. The common blanket octopus is a rare site indeed and blanket octopus facts are few and far between. Among these retreating animals is the blanket octopus. Hidden between the nooks and crannies and nestled down on the ocean floor is a menagerie of marine life.
#Blanket octopus full#
The ocean is full of critters that are shy and difficult to find.